Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Shanghai diverted after engine issue

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner turned around about seven hours into the journey. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Air New Zealand passengers bound for Shanghai have returned to Auckland Airport, which they departed nine hours ago, after an unexpected flight diversion due to an engine issue.

Flight NZ289, bound for Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), was forced to return to Auckland around nine hours after departure.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner departed Auckland on Monday, July 1 at 10.47pm and turned around about four and a half hours into the journey, according to data from FlightAware.

Passengers landed back at Auckland Airport at 8.36 this morning.

Air New Zealand flight NZ289 was forced to divert and return to Auckland Airport this morning. Image / FlightAware

The return was a proactive safety measure, Air NZ chief operating officer Alex Marren said.

“NZ289 from Auckland to Shanghai returned to Auckland this morning as a proactive safety measure due to one of the aircraft’s engines using more oil than usual,” he told the Herald.

“The decision was made to return to Auckland so the aircraft could be checked by our engineering team here to expedite repair.”

Marren thanked customers for their patience and understanding, and said they would be accommodated on the next available service.

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Many factors dictate whether a flight continues its route, diverts to another airport nearby or returns to its departure airport. When it comes to engineering issues, airlines often try to direct their planes to airports with the resources required to make efficient repairs.

The daily flight typically departs Auckland at 10.40pm and arrives in Shanghai 12 hours and 15 minutes later,

This follows a diversion yesterday by a Qantas Boeing 737-800, which departed Auckland bound for Brisbane but had to return after 3.5 hours due to an engine-related issue.

Like today’s flight, passengers were rescheduled on a flight that departed yesterday.

Boeing has been in the spotlight in recent months and the US Justice Department has announced it will charge the aerospace company with criminal fraud following two fatal crashes.