Mysterious Chinese plane flies in

The Capital Airlines airbus at Hawke's Bay Airport, Napier, on Tuesday. Photo / Paul Taylor

Mystery surrounds the Chinese airbus which arrived at Hawke's Bay Airport on Tuesday.

Airport Company chief executive Nick Story said all he could say was the Beijing Capital Airlines plane was a charter.

He said as with any Jetstar or Air New Zealand planes, there was confidentiality for the passengers of the flight.

An airport representative said the plane would be staying at the airport for the rest of the week.

Representatives from Hastings District Council, Napier City Council, Horse of the Year, and Cape Kidnappers said they did not know why the plane was here.

Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule said he had no knowledge about any business allocations happening, but thought maybe those on board were just golfers playing at Cape Kidnappers.

The plane is an Airbus A319-100 and the airline has one such aircraft in VIP configuration.

Discussions on social media sites about the plane floated numerous theories - from the credible to the plane belonging to Neil Diamond.

A Twitter user suggested the plane had flown in from Guangzhou near Hastings' sister city Guilin.

Common theories focused on investors coming to purchase Hawke's Bay farms, vineyards, and the Cape Kidnappers Farm.

Others suggested the visit was related to an incident in January when a shipment of NZ Miracle Water was sent back to New Zealand from China after it did not meet water purity requirements.