Fog-hit flyers stuck in seats for hours

Fog at Auckland Airport caused disruption to 1400 international travellers yesterday, leaving some grumpy passengers in their seats for an extra eight hours.

The thick fog rolled across the Auckland runway at 6am and sporadically lifted through the morning, until it finally cleared after midday.

Two international flights were redirected to Wellington and five larger aircraft had to land at Ohakea Air Force Base, west of Palmerston North.

Flight Sergeant Paul Stein said passengers were unable to get off the plane as the base was not equipped to process people arriving from overseas.

He said 1400 people were stranded in their seats until the fog had cleared and they flew back to Auckland for a second or third attempt at landing.

One News reported passengers complained there was no food, drinks ran out and some aircraft toilets became blocked.

Flight Sergeant Stein said three Boeing 747s, a Boeing 777 and an Airbus A340 landed at the base - two from Air New Zealand, one from Thai Airways, one from Singapore Airways, and a cargo freight plane.

He said Christchurch Airport would normally take the redirected international flights, but it too was covered in fog.

Larger aircraft are unable to land at Wellington Airport, he said.

An Air NZ flight was the first plane to land at Ohakea, just after 6am.

Flight Sergeant Stein said it left the base mid-morning, unsuccessfully tried to land in Auckland and had to return.

Ohakea's tarmac space was taken up and kept the refuellers busy, he said.

"They were going pretty much all day. We've got some good fuel supplies, but because we don't usually deal with such fuel loads our delivery systems are a little bit smaller."

An Auckland Airport spokeswoman said some planes were able to land during the morning when the fog cleared in short bursts.

- NZPA