Flight disruption after emergency landing

Around 300 Air New Zealand passengers will have their travel plans disrupted following an emergency landing in Auckland today.

Some 100 passengers and crew on flight NZ503 to Christchurch were evacuated down emergency shutes at Auckland domestic airport this morning, after an electrical fault was reported.

Air New Zealand said four domestic flights would be cancelled as a result of the incident, with around 300 customers expected to be on other flights within an hour of their scheduled departure time.

The airline said engineers were investigating the cause of the fault.

In a statement this morning, it said: "While taxiing to the airport gate, a smell of fumes were reported in the flight deck and in line with standard operating procedure, the Captain decided to evacuate the aircraft.

"This saw the 94 passengers and three cabin crew and two pilots exit the aircraft down emergency shutes."

Most of the passengers on board the flight have now completed their travel on alternative flights.

There were no reports of injuries.

- NZHERALD STAFF