Regional flights delayed or cancelled because of fog at Auckland Airport

Auckland Airport is preparing to upgrade the taxiway to a runway, as seen in this impression. Taxiway Alpha is to the right of the one existing runway. Image / Auckland Airport

Fog restrictions at Auckland Airport have been lifted after delaying or cancelling some regional flights this morning.

Auckland Airport said fog restrictions put in place at 7.45am were lifted around 9.15am, and affected about seven flights.

Of these, four flights departing from Auckland Airport have been delayed. This includes one flight heading to the Great Barrier Island and three to Gisborne.

Two flights arriving from Napier were delayed, and one from Palmerston North was cancelled.

Auckland Airport said that the main trunk domestic flights to Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Queenstown were not affected.

No international flights were affected.

Auckland Airport advises passengers to check its website www.aucklandairport.co.nz for the latest flight arrival and departure information.

The morning’s foggy conditions happened on the southern hemisphere’s winter solstice - the shortest day of the year.

Today, “the earth’s axis is tilted at its furthest point from the sun”, wrote MetService on X.

“This means that the sun is at its lowest point in the sky and therefore it’s also the shortest day of the year – and the longest night.

“The good news is, from tomorrow, days will gradually get more hours of sunlight, although temperatures continue to get colder for a time through winter before they start to warm up again.”