Air New Zealand Wellington to Queenstown flight diverted after strong winds prevent landing

NZ607 from Wellington to Queenstown was forced to return to the capital after severe wind shear prevented a landing.

An Air New Zealand flight from Wellington to Queenstown was forced to return to the capital after severe wind shear prevented a landing.

Flight24 flight tracker showed the plane heading in from the east, and diverting south along Lake Wakatipu, turning around and heading back over Frankton where the town’s airport is located.

One traveller standing in the Queenstown departures terminal captured the exact moment the plane attempted to land. It gently descended towards the runway, prompting applause from dozens of people. At the very last moment, it rose back up from the tarmac, unable to land. The video caught people yelling “no!” and holding their heads in frustration.

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The flight to Queenstown from the capital traditionally takes 55 minutes.

Air New Zealand chief operating officer Alex Marren said due to significant wind shear conditions, NZ607 was not able to land in Queenstown this afternoon and returned to Wellington.

“Customers will be re-accommodated on the next available service.”

The diversion comes days after hundreds of Queenstown Marathon runners were left stranded when flights in and out of the town on Friday night were redirected, returned, or cancelled due to severe crosswind conditions.

Queenstown Airport’s website lists eight cancelled or diverted arrivals and seven cancelled departures from Friday night.

Most of these flights were from Air New Zealand, though two affected arrivals and two cancelled departures were with Jetstar.

An NZME reporter onboard an aborted flight described their plane turning around just before reaching Queenstown and returning to Auckland.

“We do apologise for this, but safety is paramount and we couldn’t land,” an air hostess said.

“We do care and we are especially sorry for those who are competing in the marathon.”

Annoyed passengers on board said they’d been training for six months.

Nathan Lee travelled from Taiwan to run the marathon with his parents.

His parents made an earlier flight to Queenstown, but Lee will miss the event he’s trained months for.

“They’re there right now, and I’m here trying to figure out what the hell our next move is going to be,” Lee said.

“If you fly here, and then you tell me that it’s suddenly aborted ... I did come off an 11-hour flight previously, so that was the light at the end of the tunnel.”

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