Undisrupted air travel ahead

Flight cancellations continued yesterday, but Air New Zealand is not expecting disruption over the weekend now the weather has cleared. Passengers complained of chaos at Auckland Airport on Thursday after an Air New Zealand flight to Christchurch was cancelled in the afternoon due to ‘‘staffing shortages as a result of weather disrupts throughout the day’’. Other flights were also affected, including to Tauranga, Napier, Wellington and Queenstown. Auckland Airport’s online flight information showed 10 Air New Zealand flights had been cancelled yesterday. Flights to Wha¯nga¯rei, Christchurch, Queenstown, New Plymouth and Tauranga were affected, as were flights from Christchurch, Palmerston North, Wha¯nga¯rei, New Plymouth and Queenstown. An Air New Zealand spokesperson said the flights were cancelled because of engineering requirements, and that all affected customers had been rebooked on same-day services.