At least 15 Air New Zealand passengers had to sleep on the floor of Nelson Airport after the airline couldn’t find them accommodation. File photo / George Novak
At least 15 Air New Zealand passengers had to sleep on the floor of Nelson Airport after the airline couldn’t find them accommodation. File photo / George Novak
Air New Zealand passengers spent the night sleeping on the Nelson Airport floor after their flight was delayed and diverted
After attempting to land in Christchurch, flight NZ5748 was rerouted to Nelson where the airline couldn’t find hotel accommodation
Stranded passengers were told to move outside before being allowed to sleep in the Koru Lounge
At least 15 Air New Zealand passengers on a diverted flight had to sleep on the floor of Nelson Airport after the airline couldn’t find them accommodation.
One passenger, who asked not to be named, said the experience was traumatic and left her “absolutely exhausted”.
Flight NZ5748 was supposed to fly from Dunedin to Christchurch last night, but was unable to land in Christchurch and diverted to Nelson.
“It was hell, it was the bumpiest flight I’ve ever had,” the passenger said. “The plane was sideways ... it was the most horrendous thing.”
“We were asked to get outside on the concrete to sleep as it was a security issue.”
Eventually, after arguments, the passengers were allowed to stay in the Koru Lounge, but only for a few hours.
“It really was a s***show from Air NZ and something must be done to fix these issues.
“We were treated like cattle.”
The passenger said three Air NZ female staff “were very helpful and stayed with us all night”, but the incident exposed systemic issues.
“The staff were not the problem, it was the procedures, they didn’t have contingency plans.
“It proves to me that Air NZ cares about money and not their customers, and it wasn’t the staff, they were lovely ... it was a circus.”
An Air New Zealand plane on the tarmac at Nelson Airport. Photo / Katy Hutchins
Another passenger, who wanted to be referred to by his surname, Lee, said there were 170 passengers needing accommodation, and the small group that could not be provided for ended up sleeping on the floor of the airport and were “constantly asked” to move around.
He said the argument with the Nelson Airport security guard happened about 1am.
“They were essentially forcing us out of the airport, with nowhere else to go ... [we were] a bunch of people with no shelter, no basic needs, in the cold, with all our luggage with no hope ... it was so bad.”
A ”very heated exchange” between Air NZ and Nelson Airport staff followed, Lee said.
“That was quite an escalating kind of situation, lot of emotions.
“We were all like, so tired and sick of everything that’s happening.”
Air NZ opened its lounge for the passengers about 1.30am, but advised them they could only stay in the lounge until 4am as other customers would need to use it, Lee said.
“You can imagine just how tough it was for us.
“Then we were just stuck in the airport and just waiting for our next flight ... that was a very harrowing experience.”
Air New Zealand flight NZ5748 from Dunedin was unable to land in Christchurch and instead landed in Nelson. Photo / FlightRadar24
A spokesperson for Nelson Airport said it closes at 10pm and is not resourced to provide overnight staffing or accommodation services.
“When it became clear last night that there wasn’t any alternative available for the passengers, we did our best to accommodate them in the terminal, calling in staff who had already worked full days to keep the terminal open overnight, and using the Air New Zealand lounge as a space for them to stay.
“This is a fairly uncommon scenario for our staff to be faced with. We acknowledge there were some shortcomings in our response as a result, and we’re sorry to have added any additional stress for the passengers.”
The spokesperson said the airport would work closely with Air New Zealand to ensure there are better systems in place for accommodating their customers in the future.
Air New Zealand chief operating officer Alex Marren said the flight was diverted due to wind conditions in Christchurch.
“The plan was to pick up additional fuel and continue on to Wellington, however once the flight had landed in Nelson, the weather in Wellington deteriorated and our crew hours were exceeded, resulting in the cancellation of this service,” Marren said.
“Due to the limited hotel options available, some of our customers stayed overnight [at] the airport. Our Nelson team also remained with the group who were looked after in the Air New Zealand lounge and provided refreshments.
“We sincerely apologise for this inconvenience and thank our customers for their patience as we rebooked them on alternate flights to travel today”.
Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.
