China Southern plane lands safely after emergency at Auckland International

A China Southern 787 experienced engine trouble soon after taking off from Auckland International Airport this morning. Photo / File

Passengers from a China Southern Airlines flight that made an emergency landing at Auckland International Airport this morning, are now off the aircraft.

The 212 passengers and crew disembarked the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner through buses as aircraft engineers assessed the plane after pilots were forced to make an emergency landing due to engine failure.

It's understood the left engine of the relatively new Dreamliner shut down shortly after take off before 11am, sparking a full scale emergency.

Flight CZ336 departed around 11am after being delayed, and flew 186km in a loop around greater Auckland before turning back to the airport in distress.

The plane landed safely at 11.33am where it was met by at least 13 fire appliances, airport emergency responders and several St John Ambulances.

Auckland Airport Emergency Operation Centre shift manager Gabriel Thompson said the plane taxied to a remote hardstand where it was being assessed by aircraft engineers.

There were no reports of injuries and emergency responders were now debriefing the situation.

Playback of the flight on Flight Radar shows the craft began its journey at 11.08am.

Within minutes it reached over 4000ft altitude as it headed west of the airport.

When it reached the coast, it did a small loop and the altitude dropped to slightly below 4000ft.

The plane then continues in a large circle travelling clockwise and reaches 5000ft.

The flight path shows it travelling above Takapuna and over Rangitoto towards Waiheke, before looping back to the airport and ending its journey around 11.40am.

Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners only began commercial service in October 2011 while the slightly longer 787-9 Dreamliner, used by Air New Zealand, began flights in August 2014.