Bomb threat causes long flight delays in Gisborne
A bomb threat forced the closure of Gisborne Airport yesterday, leaving dozens of holidaymakers stranded on the roadside in the hot New Year sun.
Police confirmed that sniffer dogs had completed a sweep on the airport and found nothing, returning control to airport authorities about 4pm.
Inquiries into who was behind the threat were ongoing, a police spokeswoman said.
Traveller Zhane Skipper was awaiting a delayed flight back to Auckland, after spending much of the afternoon sitting with other stranded passengers at the edge of police cordon outside the airport.
‘‘Standing around in the scorching sun, people were starting to get a bit angry, so it’s good to back inside,’’ she said.
She was returning from the Rhythm and Vines festival when the announcement came over the loudspeaker yesterday morning that there was a security threat and everyone had to evacuate.
Delayed passengers had been moved out onto the street as police started arriving, Skipper said.
Since then, everyone had been hanging out of the street, listening to reggae music being played by the neighbours.
‘‘It’s still festival vibes ... Kiwiana.’’
Her flight had been due to depart at 1pm but was pushed back twice, giving her a new departure time of 3.30pm.
Passenger Rosemarie Boulton was due to fly to Christchurch, viaWellington.
Yesterday afternoon, she was queuing up hoping to get onto a new flight that would get her home.
‘‘There is a bit of line here, just trying to get everyone on to new flights.’’
As of 5.20pm, one flight had departed for Auckland, delayed by six hours, while a further five delayed flights were scheduled to depart throughout the evening.
One flight, to Auckland, had been cancelled. it’s very