More than 2000 weary travellers have finally made their way home after floodwaters stranded them at the Auckland Airport building yesterday, while hundreds more travellers have had their flights cancelled this morning.
Auckland Airport says there will be no flights arriving or departing before midday.
Its website shows that scores of flights leaving for destinations around the world, from Tokyo and Seoul to cities in the US, will not fly this morning.
The first international flight marked as still scheduled to depart is Air NZ and Singapore Airlines’ 12.45pm flight to Sydney.
A passenger at the airport this morning said he had also been advised by staff that there would be no Air NZ domestic flights flying in or out of Auckland today.
“We have been asked to leave the terminal,” he said.
However, Air NZ said it is working “through what its schedule will look like from midday today when Auckland Airport is scheduled to reopen”.
It said it could take days to make alternative arrangements to get passengers from delayed or cancelled flights to their destinations, such had been the level of disruption.
It comes as the airport’s terminal buildings were flooded during yesterday’s deluge - and more than 2000 travellers were forced to pull out sleeping bags and blankets and sleep at the airport after nearby roads were cut off by floodwaters.
“The Auckland Airport team has been working throughout the night to support over 2000 travellers and airport workers, cut off by flooding on roads in and around the airport precinct, as well as on the ground level of the international terminal, particularly in the check-in area,” airport staff said.
The flooded roads near the airport eventually began to clear by about 4am, allowing most travellers to begin to leave the terminal building and find their way home or to a hotel.
“We want to genuinely thank travellers for their patience overnight, as we contended with rising floodwaters, a runway closure and multiple flight delays, diversions and cancellations,” chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui said.
“We’re also really grateful to the retailers that remained open tonight to support travellers and provide food and drink, as well as our team at the Strata lounge and other airport lounges who have worked through the night to care for travellers.”
However, some travellers were not impressed at being told to leave the airport in the middle of the night, according to Joanna Kidman.
“Scenes of angry confrontations at Auckland airport as stranded passengers with nowhere to go are being told to leave the domestic terminal,” she tweeted.
“Auckland Airport has just closed the terminal and turfing hundreds of anxious stranded passengers into the cold with nowhere to go, incl. people with children, and ppl who are sick, elderly, disabled and feeling afraid. Some are refusing to leave.”
Scenes of angry confrontations at Auckland airport as stranded passengers with nowhere to go are being told to leave the domestic terminal @NZStuff @nzherald @NewshubNZ @NewsroomNZ @Kieran_McAnulty
— Prof. Joanna Kidman (@JoannaKidman) January 27, 2023
Auckland Airport has just closed the terminal and turfing hundreds of anxious stranded passengers into the cold with nowhere to go incl. people with children, and ppl who are sick, elderly, disabled and feeling afraid. Some are refusing to leave. @NewsroomNZ @NZStuff @nzherald
— Prof. Joanna Kidman (@JoannaKidman) January 27, 2023
Traveller Liam Simpson he was recently told there would be no Air NZ domestic flights in or out of Auckland today.
“Currently, there is about about 500 people across the entirety of Auckland domestic just sitting on seats, blankets, lying across floors, it is pretty much chaos, really,” he said.
“Because we don’t actually know what is going on right now.”
He said at first passengers were waiting around after being told by an announcement earlier that there would be no flights before midday.
There were Air NZ staff going around and giving out food but for a long period this morning passengers “heard nothing” about when or if flights would get going today.
“It’s peaceful but I can tell people are getting annoyed.”
Simpson said he arrived at the airport just after 9pm last night.
His flight got delayed first and then eventually cancelled.
“I got the annoying news that I needed to stay in the terminal for the night.”
Due to the impact of extreme weather across the Auckland Region, flexibility is available on all fare types for customers who held tickets for travel to/from/through Auckland between 27/01/23 and 30/01/23 on an Air New Zealand flight. Find out more here: https://t.co/vyQhvOvD9s pic.twitter.com/7MWZMrpQdE
— Air New Zealand ✈️ (@FlyAirNZ) January 27, 2023
“Then we all got a rude awakening at about 5 o’clock this morning where we all had to leave because we were beyond the security area and we had to go back into the main domestic terminal.”
Simpson said he’d managed to cobble together about two and a half hours’ sleep at the airport.
Before eventually being told that there would be no Air NZ flights today, Simpson said he was seeing flight attendants arriving to go to work this morning before turning around and leaving straight away.
“So I’m really not sure what’s going on,” he said.
Elsewhere, other Auckland-bound passengers are also experiencing delays.
Twitter users tracking flight data have noticed a flight bound for Auckland leaving Dallas international airport in the US, only to have to make a U-turn and head back to Dallas as a result of the floods.
A “brutal” 10-hour round trip, leading one Twitter user to proclaim “yowch”.
AA35 gave up and went back to DFW. #americanairlines #Auckland pic.twitter.com/j6gieqTKWr
— Zach 🐅 ザック (@phx787) January 27, 2023
Another flight out of New York was forced to divert into Honolulu in Hawaii, according to flight trackers.
Airport staff said flooding on the ground-floor terminal and forecourt cleared by around 4am.
That allowed travellers to make their way to the carparks and for park-and-ride bus services to start operating again and come pick them up.
Taxis and rideshares were also back up and running by 4.30am, airport staff said.
It will take time for flights to get back up and running again this morning.
“Due to the damage overnight and the need to check key terminal infrastructure, no domestic or international flights will be arriving or departing from Auckland Airport before noon Saturday, 28 January. This will continue to be reviewed as the weather event continues,” airport staff said.
“We encourage travellers to get in touch with their airline or check their airline travel app for the latest information about their flights.”
Air NZ said it could take days to make alternative arrangements to get passengers on delayed or cancelled flights to their destinations.
Air New Zealand safety officer, Captain David Morgan said because Auckland is the hub of its operations, the flooding had caused significant disruptions, meaning the airline was working through what is schedule would look like.
“Overnight the airline saw 12 international services due into Auckland divert to other ports,” Morgan said.
“This will cause significant flow on effects while the airline works through getting customers on those services to their original destinations and our crew and planes back where they need to be.”
“This may take a few days to recover.”
“The airline is advising those with non-urgent travel between now and Monday 30th January 2023 to make use of the flexibility policy. Customers can either hold their fare in credit or rebook in the same class of travel between Saturday 28th January 2023 and Monday 6th February 2023 without fare difference, penalty or service fees.”
It’s advising customers to use Air NZ’s app or website to manage bookings and to follow it’s airline travel alerts page.
Customers who booked through a travel agent or third-party online agent should contact them directly about making changes to their bookings or credit validity, Morgan said.
Christchurch Airport has also warned passengers that flight cancellations in Auckland were affecting its operations.
“We have received a significant number of diverted flights overnight,” the airport tweeted.
“This means the airport is very busy - we have a lot of extra people here while airlines work with their passengers to accomodate their needs.”
Everyone is doing their best to manage the influx of passengers and we thank people for their patience and understanding in these extraordinary circumstances.
— Christchurch Airport (@CHC_Airport) January 27, 2023
Much of the South Island is set to plunge below 0C tonight and tomorrow.