Queenstown backlog could take days to clear: Air NZ

Air New Zealand has added another plane and more flights to help clear a backlog of stranded passengers in Queenstown, but says it could take days. Last week, wild weather caused multiple flight cancellations across the country, exacerbated by staff sickness and a high demand during the school holidays. Air New Zealand announced the resulting backlog might not be sorted until later this week. ‘‘Unfortunately, we’re still experiencing a perfect storm of a very busy end to the school holidays, with ongoing weather [issues] and crew sickness causing disruptions. Recovery might take several days, and we’re working through potential alternative transport options for customers and encouraging those with nonurgent travel to push their fare in credit.’’ The airline said where the reason for cancellation was within its control, it would provide overnight accommodation either arranged at the airport or to an agreed value with proof of receipt. ‘‘If a flight has been cancelled due to weather and customers are required to overnight, this would normally be covered by the customer or via their travel insurance. However, if a customer is part-way through their journey in a stopover port and the next flight is disrupted, we do our best to arrange appropriate accommodation for the night.’’ Customers should subscribe to Air New Zealand’s Travel Alerts service and consult its Arrivals and Departures page, the airline said. Those booked to travel on affected flights were urged to transfer their travel to another date by managing their booking online. - RNZ