A further 14 flights at Auckland Airport have been cancelled due to heavy fog, nearly 12 hours after 89 domestic flights were cancelled or delayed due to thick overnight fog.
An Auckland Airport spokesperson said 10 domestic departing flights and four domestic arrivals have been cancelled, while one domestic arrival has been delayed.
“Air New Zealand 457 flight to Wellington has been cancelled due to the fog.
“International flights have not been affected by the fog.”
This morning, 89 flights at Auckland Airport were cancelled or delayed after thick fog descended on Auckland overnight.
An airport spokesperson said about 44 domestic flights were delayed and 45 domestic flights were cancelled because of the fog.
Flight restrictions were put in place shortly before 3am, Auckland Airport said in a statement.
Auckland Airport removed fog restrictions at 12.18pm.
MetService forecaster Lewis Ferris said a mixing pot of bad ingredients was causing the fog to hang around.
He said the sun’s low angle due to the winter solstice, high clouds blocking the sun, and the lack of wind made for the perfect foggy conditions.
The weather also played havoc with the city’s transport system.
Auckland Transport said the fog caused delays to some ferry services to and from downtown Auckland, including Bayswater, Hobsonville and Beach Haven, Gulf Harbour, Pine Harbour, and Birkenhead. Several sailings were cancelled or ran 30 minutes or more late.
Video taken from the Hobsonville ferry terminal about 7.20am showed thick fog covering the water, with low visibility.
Police reported a massive disruption on Auckland’s Southern Motorway during the morning commute due to an “incident”.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi said all northbound lanes were temporarily blocked between Cavendish Drive and East Tamaki Rd.
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