Air New Zealand’s ‘direct’ flight from New York touches down in Fiji for pit stop

An Air New Zealand flight from New York to Auckland has touched down in Nadi to refuel - the first time warnings by the airline of disruption to the service because of weather have come to fruition.

Two previous warnings of a “gas and go” stop in Fiji have come to nothing as the flight has made up time while in the air, after the weather was not as disruptive as feared.

However, the airline yesterday warned passengers on its New York-Auckland flight they face a two-hour delay because of a diversion to Nadi on what is meant to be a non-stop service.

"Strong headwinds are forecast on our flight path from New York to Auckland which require us to carry additional fuel. We're doing everything we can to get you directly to Auckland, however, based on this weather forecast, we are proactively planning a stop in Nadi to uplift additional fuel before continuing," a customer care staff member says in an email.

And just before take-off, passengers were told by the captain that the flight will be stopping in Fiji after taking a more northerly route across the United States, flying near Chicago and Salt Lake City.

According to Flightradar24, the aircraft took off at 3.11pm NZT, one hour and 15 minutes late.

Flightradar24 shows NZ1 diverting to Nadi. Photo / Supplied

“NZ1 is due to land in Nadi at 7am [NZT],” a passenger told the Herald.

“The captain apologised to passengers on board shortly before landing, saying the headwinds out of New York were especially strong - up to 160km/h.

“He said the crew would be leaving the flight in Fiji, replaced with another crew, while the Dreamliner was being refuelled. Passengers are staying on board.”

Air New Zealand chief operating officer Alex Marren said yesterday the airline was planning for weather on the flight path en route from New York to Auckland which requires carrying additional fuel.

"As with previous flights, we plan several options to ensure we get our customers to Auckland safely. At this stage we are preparing for a short fuel stop in Nadi and have sent a replacement crew up to be in position for tomorrow," she said.

"Once in the air, our pilots will closely monitor conditions en route to see if we can revert back to the standard route to get our customers directly to Auckland. Weather can change, especially over the length of an ultra-long haul 17.5-hour flight across the Pacific."

Passengers have been told that if they have an onward connecting flight on the same ticket that they will miss due to this delay, they will be rebooked to the next available service.

The long-planned New York-Auckland service has hit strong jetstream headwinds and been hit by bad weather on several flights since launching in September. About 60 passengers on the first flight had bags unloaded.

Since then the airline has restricted the number of seats sold to around 180 - on a 275-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. It has a modified version of the aircraft on order with fewer seats and with landing gear rated to carry more fuel. They are not due for delivery until 2024, at the earliest.