“Fairly high risk of cancellations” for flights to New Zealand as historic storm hits country

Airliner taking off from the runway at the airport during bad weather, low visibility, snow. Concept of delayed or late flights
By Dan lake


Travellers to and from New Zealand have been advised to pay very close attention to the latest flight and weather information as Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle moves across the country.

Auckland International Airport tweeted this afternoon, referring to a weather “curveball” hitting the city over the weekend.

“The weather is throwing us yet another curveball this weekend, but Auckland Airport is prepared with plans in place for all scenarios.

“It’s possible there may be short notice flight delays or cancellations, so if you have travel booked over the weekend/early next week it’s a good idea to monitor your email, airline travel app or website for the latest updates from your airline.”

Earlier today, Air New Zealand said it was working with relevant authorities to understand the severity of the cyclone and will be working through any required amendments to its schedule over the next 48 hours.

Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty said the airline will work to limit the impact of the cyclone on travel plans however customers should be prepared as there may be some delays or cancellations.

“Teams around the business have kicked into gear to start planning for any disruptions to our network due to Cyclone Gabrielle,” Geraghty said.

The storm comes less than two weeks after historic flooding forced Auckland into a state of emergency, which remains in place this weekend.

 

The storm comes less than two weeks after historic flooding forced Auckland into a state of emergency .Image: BOM

Philip Duncan from WeatherWatch New Zealand told Travel Weekly Australia the strong winds could cause issues for regional flights.

“On Sunday the severe weather in northern NZ may impact regional flights. Turbo props and regional airports, more so than jets.”

“By Monday and Tuesday we expect more flight problems across the North Island as severe weather increases across North Island flights. Probably a fairly high risk of cancellations and delays,” Duncan said.

New Zealand’s MetService agreed the disruption will likely take place early next week.

“At this stage disruption to international flights may be fairly limited to Monday night and Tuesday in Auckland. Generally international flights don’t have so many issues with gales and heavy rain – but the conditions on Monday night and Tuesday in Auckland may impact some international flights,” Public Meteorologist, Alwyn Bakker said.

For now, that risk would be considered moderate risk.

Winds are expected to reach sustained speeds of 150km/h in exposed areas.

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