There were no reports of damage or trees being downed, as at 4pm on Friday.
The 8.25am flight from Auckland to Napier arrived at peak gust times.
A passenger on the flight, who did not want to be named, said the pilot pulled out of the "shaky" first landing between 50 to 100 feet above the runway.
The pilot, who kept everyone informed, tried again, the passenger said.
"It was really bad. I clutched the seat in front of me.
"Everyone clapped as we landed. The kids behind us said it was the worst flight they'd been on."
Murray said westerly days were particularly tricky for airports on the east coast of NZ, with turbulent landings always possible.
"What can happen with this wind direction is you get not just a gust but a wave of wind come off the mountains, and that can be very turbulent in a small plane.
"That's probably why they had to abort the landing."
Murray said the wind would never fully die down over the weekend, despite a severe weather watch being in place until only 9am tomorrow."Westerly gales may return for a time on Sunday as another blast of cold front comes through."
Two further Air NZ flights out of Napier were cancelled this afternoon due to "engineering issues".
