Get me a ticket on a jet plane

Weary, worried and plain bored, stranded Qantas passengers joined long queues to hitch a ride on Air New Zealand planes. Some were lucky, some weren't. Herald reporters ANNE BESTON, ALISON HORWOOD and JOSIE CLARKE tracked their progress.

Saturday

Auckland Airport, 11.10 am: Hundreds of people are milling about in the domestic terminal with long queues at all Air New Zealand check-in counters. The noise of the crowd drowns out the apologies broadcast over the speaker system.

11.20 am: Lisa Hannifin, aged 29, from Christchurch, arrives for her Qantas flight home. She is told by another woman in the queue that because she booked her ticket electronically, she will need to walk over to the Qantas international terminal to get proof of the booking.

12 pm: Greg Weekes, 51, from Wellington, joins the queue after flying Qantas from Sydney. He wants to fly to Wellington at 1 pm, but his chances are not looking good.

12.30 pm: Four Qantas staff, two in distinctive Qantas shirts, arrive at the terminal clutching radios and cellphones. They are immediately accosted by worried passengers.

12.35 pm: Air New Zealand staff hand out free orange juice to queuing passengers.

12.44 pm: Someone suggests that a list of electronic bookings with Qantas could be faxed to the domestic terminal, saving passengers the trek to the international terminal.

12.45 pm: It's too late for Lisa Hannifin, who arrives back with proof of her booking. Lisa gets to the front of the queue in double-quick time and secures the last seat on the 1.15 pm flight to Christchurch.

1.43 pm: The Qantas queue snakes around the terminal with most people waiting about two hours. Some use laptop computers or cellphones, some rest aching feet by sitting on luggage trolleys, but most stand wearily.

2.07 pm: Greg Weekes gets to the front of the queue, but it's bad news. He's third in the queue on a 7 pm flight to Christchurch, 6 hours late. There's no guarantee he will make that flight either. "I guess I'll just have to bunk down where I can, but the least they could have done was told us before we left Sydney. I could have got a flight direct to Wellington."

Sunday

Wellington Airport, 5.45 am: First-year Otago University students Katherine Sliper, Ruth Dobson-Smith, Sarah Avery and Ben Leen arrive at the airport after spending their holidays in the capital. They hold Qantas tickets for a 7.45 am flight, which gets them to Dunedin in time for the the first day of the new term.

6.30 am: Their defunct tickets are transferred to Air New Zealand and they are on standby for the next flight to Christchurch. They buy a pack of cards, spread sleeping bags under the Air New Zealand standby counter and settle in for a long wait. "We are all going a bit crazy," said Ruth Dobson-Smith. "Luckily, we had our sleeping bags in our packs, and we bought a pack of cards to try and keep ourselves amused, but it's pretty boring."

8 am: After a South Island holiday, Hamilton family Raymond and Jenni Bird and their four daughters Lara, 12, Lucy, 10, Rosie, 8, and Libby, 5, get to Wellington without a hitch from Queenstown Airport.

Auckland Airport 10 am: The Qantas terminal is deserted apart from three security guards stationed outside and the occasional weary traveller arriving from the international terminal. A security guard recites again and again that Qantas no longer exists and travellers should make their way to the Air New Zealand counter. His speech is received with blank or confused stares.

10.45 am: Queues at the Air New Zealand counters are short, and some Qantas passengers are boarding earlier than they had planned. Most travellers have taken advantage of an 0800 number on Saturday night to rebook their flights on Air New Zealand.

11.10 am: Christchurch friends Nicky Whitby and Sonia Read, both 25, arrive from a holiday in Kuala Lumpur to hear that Qantas, which was supposed to fly them home to Christchurch at 1.30 pm, no longer exists. Air New Zealand tells them it cannot honour their tickets because they were booked as part of a package deal through Malaysia Airlines. Crowds at the baggage retrieval areas are chaotic, thanks to the extra flights arriving throughout the day. Airport staff wander through the crowd, offering lollies.

Wellington Airport, 1.10 pm: The Bird family, still waiting in the capital, are told two seats are available on a flight to Hamilton, so the family decide to split up. Mrs Bird takes her youngest daughter, Libby, and the others say goodbye.

Auckland Airport, 1.10 pm: The news is still not good for Nicky Whitby and Sonia Read. The Malaysia Airlines desk is now deserted, and there is a suggestion that they might have to buy new tickets. The women are becoming increasingly annoyed and anxious that their first day back at work after their holiday will be a writeoff.

Wellington Airport, 1.10 pm: The students are guaranteed seats on the 8.35 pm to Christchurch, but there is no guarantee of a transfer to Dunedin. Ben Leen rings rental car companies to make inquiries about the five-hour journey by road. The others ring the hall of residence to say they may not be arriving until 3 am. The students are beginning to panic about missing the first day of term and handing in their holiday assignments.

2 pm: After an eight-hour wait, the students are on an Air New Zealand flight to Christchurch. "We have got no idea how we are going to get from Christchurch to Dunedin, but we are just glad to be out of here," said Ruth Dobson-Smith, as they ran for the flight.

Auckland Airport, 2.40 pm: Nicky Whitby and Sonia Read are told that their only option is an 8.30 pm flight to Christchurch. Grim-faced, they resign themselves to an afternoon of waiting.

Their journey home is now approaching 30 hours.

Wellington Airport, 3 pm: Mr Bird, waiting with his three eldest daughters, is told there are no guaranteed seats until this morning, so he begins to think about accommodation for the night.