Airport firefighters go on strike

Four international flights into Auckland were delayed today after airport firefighters walked off the job over a pay row.

The 62 permanent firefighting staff at the airport walked off for two hours, saying they had been negotiating with the Auckland International Airport since February but were frustrated by a lack of progress.

Other firefighters, including some management staff took over their duties.

The airport company said while some international flights were inconvenienced, no domestic flights were affected.

Airport operations manager David Hansen said there was limited impact.

"There are about four international flights which have had to change their schedule to accommodate this but otherwise all domestic operations and the rest of the international operations are going as normal," he said.

He said the temporary cover was "a little less" than the normal level of cover.

"It is an inconvenience for those aircraft that have had to alter their schedule but for the rest it is business as usual," he said.

- NZPA