Fog finally lifts at Auckland airport

Fog disrupted flights into and out of Auckland all morning, finally lifting at about midday.

An estimated 5000 travellers were affected. International flights were diverted, delayed or cancelled, while domestic flights were also disrupted.

An airport spokeswoman said earlier this morning that five international arrivals had been diverted, with flights from Apia, Perth and Tonga heading to Wellington, and flights from Los Angeles and Honolulu to Nadi, in Fiji.

An international return service between Auckland and Sydney was cancelled.

However, some international departures had been able to leave.

Domestic flights were "heavily affected", with many flights suspended, and travellers were waiting at the airport for the fog to clear.

The spokeswoman said passengers were generally understanding.

She said the fog was "more than marginal". Though past experience showed it tended to burn off between 9am and 11am, today the problem lasted longer.

The fog hit the airport's peak time, with 12 domestic arrivals and 19 domestic departures scheduled before 8am.

Some domestic flights had been able to depart.

A Christchurch Airport spokesman said the difficulties in Auckland were causing some delays for Christchurch passengers, but otherwise the airport was functioning as normal.

- NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB

>> Auckland flight information