Footage of planes flying close together near Wellington not out of the ordinary, says airport

A member of the public has filmed two planes at Wellington Airport which appear to show them coming scarily close to one another.

But an airport spokeswoman says the incident wasn't out of the ordinary and that strong winds had planes changing their landings.

Ruben Mayor sent the footage to the Herald after witnessing what he believed to be a near-miss incident shortly before 3pm this afternoon.

A Qantas landing coincided with an Air New Zealand takeoff.

"We heard a roar of the engines. We're used to planes here because we are right by the airport but when it lands it doesn't make as much noise as the Qantas plane was doing (today) and its approach didn't seem the same," he said.

"The Qantas plane veered off to the left. It was definitely taking evasive action."

Wellington Airport spokeswoman Renee Carter said the incident was not out of the ordinary.

"The airport has experienced some tailwind this afternoon which has meant aircraft have been requested by Airways to change landing direction," she said.

"While it may appear to those viewing the video that the two aircraft are close together, Airways have confirmed that no specific events have been out of normal operating procedure."

Airways air traffic services general manager Tim Boyle described the landing as a "go around" and said it was safe.

"While an event like this could appear pretty exciting from the ground, it was in fact a normal air traffic control procedure with the aircraft remaining safely separated throughout," he said.

"As is often the case, today there has been some tailwind affecting aircraft on their final approach into Wellington and so they have been approaching faster than normal.

"The Qantas aircraft was advised early on its approach by air traffic control that it may need to go around, and was instructed to do so once reaching the decision threshold. The aircraft turned left, passing over the terminal, and joined the "go-around" circuit.

"The Air New Zealand flight departed to the south normally and the Qantas aircraft landed without incident shortly afterwards."