Thick fog blankets the South-Western Motorway as flights are grounded at Auckland Airport this morning. Photo / NZTA
Fog is disrupting air travel in and out of Auckland Airport this morning, cancelling or delaying nearly 50 flights.
Airport authorities lifted travel restrictions just before 9am after scores of flights were grounded for the fourth time in less than a fortnight.
Hundreds of passengers across New Zealand were forced to wait for conditions to improve at the country's busiest airport.
By 9am 29 domestic flights had been cancelled and 19 had been delayed.
No international flights were affected.
Getting to the airport also proved a headache with traffic clogged on a fog-affected George Bolt Memorial Dr.
It was the second time today fog has descended on the airport. Restrictions were put in place at 2.30am but lifted just before 5am when conditions cleared for a short spell.
Passengers expecting to travel today were told to check the airport website for flight arrival and departure information.
Thousands of passengers have been forced to wait at airports after more than 200 national flights were rescheduled as fog wreaked havoc at Auckland Airport over the past 12 days.
Fog was also causing problems for public transport with West Harbour ferries delayed this morning.
MetService said patches of fog was expected to stick around for another couple of hours before showers should see it lift mid-morning.
Meanwhile a minor crash and breakdown on the Southern Motorway is causing traffic to bank up heading into the city.
The crash was partially blocking the right lane before the Princes St off-ramp and a breakdown has blocked a centre lane after Ellerslie.
The New Zealand Transport Agency warned motorists to expect delays.
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