Travellers stuck as flights canned

Travellers wanting to fly from Auckland to Christchurch have been grounded by flight cancellations, with no seats on flights between the two cities available until tomorrow.

Yesterday, Air New Zealand cancelled its NZ555 flight, which was scheduled to leave for Christchurch at 4pm, due to crew sickness.

Jetstar also cancelled its JQ233 flight to Christchurch, which was scheduled to depart at 1:55pm, after a pilot became unwell.

Both airlines now had no seats available for people hoping to head to Christchurch until tomorrow, according to their booking websites.

‘‘We have limited availability on our flights between Auckland and Christchurch over the next few days as flights are very full and there are very few spare seats,’’ a Jetstar spokesperson said.

The airline said it was considering customers’ situations on a case-by-case basis and would provide customers with a range of options, ‘‘including the option of obtaining a refund, a free move to the next available Jetstar flight and reimbursement towards accommodation and travel expenses as needed’’.

There were long queues at the ticket desk at Auckland Airport yesterday afternoon, a traveller said.

Elyse Pryor was due to fly home to Christchurch yesterday afternoon with her boyfriend, Sam Irvine, but she was told their flight was cancelled in an email.

After spending three hours on hold with the airline and more than an hour on the website’s online chatroom, they were able to secure a flight for this coming Sunday evening. Pryor said the airline had compensated them with $150 a day for accommodation costs and $30 for food.