Staff shortages fuel travel chaos as flights cancelled, travel plans disrupted for days

Staffing shortages caused by weather disruptions are being blamed for travel chaos at Auckland Airport.

Air New Zealand confirmed a flight from Auckland to Christchurch was cancelled on Thursday afternoon due to “staffing shortages as a result of weather disrupts throughout the day”. Other flights with the airline have also been affected, including to Tauranga, Napier, Wellington and Queenstown.

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“We’re doing our very best to put impacted customers onto alternative services however, due to the high loads at the moment, some customers will need to be moved to Saturday’s service. We are incredibly sorry about this inconvenience,” a spokesperson said.

A passenger said she was “absolutely spewing” with the lack of information from the airline.

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The woman said hundreds of people were stranded in Auckland and told they would not be able to get another flight to Christchurch until Saturday at the earliest.

“I was waiting at the gate for 45 minutes. The aircraft was sitting there but then we heard a call that people going to Dunedin were boarding at our gate.

“There are hundreds of us waiting,” she said.

They were eventually told the flight was cancelled due to “operational issues” and to make their own accommodation bookings.

The woman said all flights with Jetstar were sold out and Air New Zealand said some could travel on Saturday but anyone who could delay their travel was asked to.

Air New Zealand has not responded to questions about how many passengers are affected.