Passengers ordered off planes after security breach at Auckland Airport

Passengers have to be rescreened after a security breach. Photo / NZME

Auckland Airport says it is now back to business as normal after passengers earlier were ordered off planes because of a security breach.

A passenger running late for a flight this morning triggered the scare when they went through an arrivals door and missed the usual screening procedure at the security processing area, an airport spokeswoman said.

The breach meant everybody in the domestic terminal who had already been screened and was either sitting on a plane or waiting in the departure lounges had to be put back through the security process.

However, all passengers have been rescreened and passengers were moving through the airport as normal, the spokeswoman said.

Six Air New Zealand flights were affected by the delays, an airline spokeswoman said.

The flights departed "from Auckland departed 45 minutes-1 hour late as Aviation Security required customers to go through security screening again," she said..

Aviation Security has started re-screening passengers but there will be flight delays. Please check with your airline to see whether your flight is affected.

We appreciate your patience.

— Auckland Airport (@AKL_Airport) June 27, 2018

The re-screening of passengers had earlier started at about 8am.

Auckland man Carl Jackson was on a plane about to depart for Wellington when passengers were asked to get off and head back to security.

The delay meant he would miss a work meeting in the capital - although he said he would just dial-in instead.

He said no one panicked but there had been massive queues waiting to go back through security.

The airport spokeswoman said the first focus had been clearing all the departure lounges and planes, then finding the passenger responsible.

The terminal has CCTV throughout, she said.

"This will take some time and on top of that they haven't started re-screening yet. We just ask that people be patient with Aviation Security as they do their job. It's a security breach, this is just what they do."

The Civil Aviation Authority would decide whether the passenger would be prosecuted.

"It's a huge inconvenience for people who have already been screened and are now delayed," the spokeswoman added.

One frequent traveller said he had never seen anything like it.

"Just hundreds and hundreds queuing. Queue to get through security to Auckland is back to the regional departures. Maybe thousands impacted."