More fog at Wellington airport

Anxious air travellers and staff at Wellington airport were today hoping a fresh blanket of fog would clear fast enough to prevent a large number of flights being affected.

One of the first inbound flights of the day -- a Qantas flight from Melbourne due to land in Wellington at 6.30am -- was diverted to Auckland to refuel and try again later.

A Wellington Airport spokesman told NZPA the aircraft had been sent to Wellington to collect passengers stranded after fog affected flights on Tuesday night, Wednesday and yesterday morning.

Other early morning flights between Wellington and Auckland, Christchurch, Nelson, Blenheim, Taupo, New Plymouth, Hamilton and Whangarei were delayed today.

Two flights between Wellington and Timaru were cancelled this morning, and a Qantas flight to Melbourne due to leave at 6.40am was rescheduled to depart at 9.30am.

However, the airport spokesman said some flights were landing on time and he was confident the fog would lift before much more trouble.

"The sun looks like it's trying to come through," he said at 7.45am.

The third morning of fog at Wellington Airport arrived as thousands of fans flocked into the capital for the international rugby sevens tournament this weekend.

Up to 10,000 passengers on 250 Air New Zealand flights into and out of Wellington were affected on Wednesday and another 50 flights and 2000 passengers disrupted yesterday.

Rental car firms reported bumper business, as sevens fans and other travellers desperate to get to and from Wellington booked out vehicles.

The pressure has been felt at Palmerston North airport, where many Wellington flights have been diverted this week due to the fog.

- NZPA