Homicide probe into woman's death centres on Air New Zealand facility at Christchurch Airport

A homicide inquiry into the death of a woman this morning is centering on an Air New Zealand facility on Orchard Rd near Christchurch International Airport. Photo / Kurt Bayer

A homicide probe launched after a woman died after being found with critical injuries near Christchurch International Airport this morning is focusing on a secured Air New Zealand facility.

Emergency services were called to Orchard Rd shortly before 6.50am.

The woman died a short time later, police said, and a homicide investigation is under way.

"A man at the scene has been taken into custody and is assisting police with our inquiries," police said in a short statement.

Police said they are not seeking anyone else over the woman's death.

A police cordon surrounds the rear of an Air New Zealand engineering and maintenance facility this afternoon.

A police spokesman updated this afternoon to say: "While this incident was near an Air NZ engineering/maintenance centre, it did not involve any Air NZ staff".

An Air New Zealand spokesman told the Herald: "While this incident is unrelated to Air New Zealand, we are assisting the police with their inquiries."

A hearse pulled into the heavily-fenced secure compound around 1.20pm.

Uniformed police officers are guarding the scene while private security contractors are also in force. They said they were not to speak to media at the scene.

The site backs on to the main airport runway and is beside the vast Air NZ maintenance hangar.

It's understood that the grisly incident has not affected Air NZ's operations, with staff still coming and going this afternoon.

A St John hub is across the road and an ambulance was scrambled to the scene at 7.02am.

Officers assessed a man at the scene with minor injuries but he did not require hospitalisation.

Police are expected to make a further update later today.