Goff eyes measures to get fuel through
AUCKLAND Mayor Phil Goff says he is prepared to use speciallycontrolled traffic lights and bus lanes to get tankers through city streets in a bid to solve the fuel crisis.
Mr Goff said yesterday the Auckland Council would do all it could to get fuel to where it was needed, including measures that could have an impact on the city’s already chronic congestion.
‘‘We’re the international gateway to New Zealand and that gateway has to stay open,’’ Mr Goff said.
So far the main impact of the ruptured fuel pipeline remains at Auckland Airport, where further flights have been cancelled and Air New Zealand has taken the extraordinary step of restricting sales of tickets.
Public servants were told yesterday not to fly unless doing so was absolutely essential.
Air New Zealand announced last night it was restricting ticket sales to try to ease pressure on the airline.
Doing so would make room for some passengers affected by the four transtasman and 26 domestic flights cancelled since
Sunday.
More flights are being cancelled today, including five Australian services, two Fiji services and a return service to Vietnam.
A statement from the airline said 3000 customers would be effect by today’s cancellations, while 6000 more suffered unexpected schedule changes.
The crisis is understood to have begun with one man on a digger in a paddock in rural Ruakaka.
Claw markers from a digger were found at the point where fuel spilled from the critical 170km pipeline connecting Refining NZ’s Marsden Point oil refinery to Auckland.
Repair crews have been working constantly since the extent of the damage was discovered at the weekend. — NZME