Wellington flights resume as fog disrupts Dunedin Airport

Flights have resumed at Wellington Airport but the wait is far from over for many as delays and cancellations continue to affect travellers.

The first plane landed at Wellington Airport this morning after fog grounded all flights yesterday.

The backlog isn't exptected to be cleared until later today meaning some passengers still face big delays.

Travellers in fog-shrouded Dunedin are also affected by cancellations and delays.

Airport spokeswoman Megan Crawford says conditions are as clear as pea soup and there's no sign of it easing.

Many passengers were forced to spend an uncomfortable night at the Wellington Airport terminal after hotel rooms and rental cars were quickly snapped up by travellers caught out by the unexpected delay.

MetService duty forecaster Mark Todd said the capital's weather woes would be sorted once a northerly wind picked up, which was expected to happen by midday.

Flights will remain suspended until the fog clears which currently isn’t expected until mid-morning tmrw. Updates👉🏽 https://t.co/M7HtbjWl3W pic.twitter.com/1UAm0GUOc4

— Wellington Airport (@WLGAirport) March 29, 2017

"The good news is there's not long to go and it's going to be over," said Todd.

"We're now waiting for northerly winds to pick up and flush out the fog."

Todd said although it was difficult to say precisely when, "I can say with a great deal of confidence that by lunch time things will have improved".

Wellington faces a second day shrouded in thick sea fog. Photo / Cameron Carpenter

Air New Zealand yesterday abandoned all operations at the airport yesterday evening as murky skies failed to clear. Today the airline will be putting on six extra flights to clear the passenger backlog.

Other scheduled domestic and international flights are listed as cancelled on the airport's website.
 
Elsewhere across the country the weather was set to improve as the low that brought intense rain that led to flash flooding in parts of Auckland yesterday tracks off the East Coast.

"There'll be a shower here and there and some may be on the heavier side but these will be few and far between and things are going to continue to improve around the North Island," said Todd.

Most of the South Island was in for a fine day with a bit of cloud in coastal areas and rain developing in the far south.