Kids stranded at airport after last-minute Jetstar cancellation

Jestar says the flight was cancelled due to an engineering problem. Photo / Warren Buckland

A group of 50 schoolchildren are stranded in Wellington Airport after their flight to Auckland was cancelled at the last minute.

A parent of one of the children, who had been in Wellington for an orchestra trip, had been told by Jetstar they would not be able to fly the group home until Tuesday because of an engineering problem.

But Jetstar said it hoped to be able to fly the students back to Auckland tomorrow.

Political commentator Matthew Hooton said his daughter was one of the children stuck in the airport.

"They're saying it's cancelled and they can put them on a flight on Tuesday. Which is a bit sad because their graduation from school - and this is their last year at primary school - is on Monday, but they don't seem to care about that."

Jetstar spokesman Luke Enright said the flight was cancelled because of an engineering problem.

He said Jetstar was working out how best to assist the group.

"We are looking at options to bus the students home tonight or accommodate them overnight and fly them to Auckland tomorrow."