Ground-fog day
Thousands of passengers affected as more than 100 flights cancelled
Air New Zealand planned to resume flights in and out of fogstricken Wellington at 9am today, and is bringing in a 312-seat Boeing 777-200 aircraft to help clear the passenger backlog.
Thousands of people were affected by the heavy fog that blanketed the capital yesterday. MetService said it was not expected to budge until the northerly wind picked up today, with the skies due to clear by midday.
Exhausted travellers had to bed down at Wellington Airport last night because accommodation across the capital was snapped up after all flights were cancelled, with the exception of a few international services.
More than 100 flights were affected.
Air New Zealand said it would resume flights from 9am, weather permitting, and would operate a number of extra Airbus A320 services to accommodate disrupted customers. It would also switch a 777-200 from international to domestic duty.
‘‘Weather conditions at Wellington Airport have caused significant disruption to flight operations . . . with services unable to land or depart since mid-morning [yesterday],’’ Air New Zealand said last night.
‘‘The suspension of services has caused flow-on effects to other services.’’
Passengers stuck at Wellington Airport overnight were offered free bottled water, blankets and snacks.
Out of the chaos came a story of generosity for quadriplegic Paul McKenzie, who was stranded with wife Jess and baby Eleven. He had been worried about where he was going to stay after their flight back to Australia was cancelled, but his airline, Qantas, had found a family in Upper Hutt who could take them in.
McKenzie was not sure when he would be able to get on a flight home.
‘‘A plane can only take two wheelchairs at one time, and usually you have to book those well in advance so I don’t know how we’ll get on there.’’
John Webber, from Neath in Wales, has been in the country for two weeks celebrating his 40th wedding anniversary with his wife, May.
They had been re-booked on a flight for this morning, which would hopefully get them to Auckland so they could fly to London. They chose to spend the night at the airport rather than fork out for a motel.
‘‘We tried to book accommodation but the only place we could get was $300 a night, and that’s just too much. It’s not the price, it’s the principle,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve got blankets and a comfy sofa so I think we’ll be alright. The staff here have been excellent, so we are well looked after.’’
Lilly Willis and her family were on their way home to Christchurch after attending a wedding in Napier when fog cancelled their connecting flight.
‘‘We were told . . . that our flight won’t be rescheduled until Saturday,’’ she said.
‘‘We are trying to find somewhere to stay on Airbnb but we’ve heard the city is fully booked. Hopefully we can find somewhere.’’
The fog developed from a humid air mass enveloping the lower North Island, clashing with a light southerly.