Jet fuel problems disrupt flights

Air New Zealand had to juggle some flights to Sydney yesterday after fuel problems there.

A spokeswoman said passengers on two Auckland to Sydney flights yesterday were flown to Christchurch where they were combined with a flight from there to Sydney.

Normally the three services would have used aircraft capable of carrying about 135 passengers each, but yesterday the one combined service had been on a Boeing 747 able to take nearly 400 passengers, she said.

"We're also carrying less cargo to conserve fuel and we're flying over with pretty much return fuel in our tanks."

Reports from Sydney said testing had shown that a significant portion of jet fuel supplies in the city were unusable.

It could be days before airline passengers flying out of the city reached their destination on time.

Petrol suppliers had rationed Sydney's jet fuel to 40 per cent of normal demand.

- NZPA