Over 100 passengers who arrived from Samoa to Auckland were left without seats after airport staff allegedly refused to open up the international transfer gate. Video / Supplied
Auckland Airport has apologised to transit passengers who had to sleep and sit in a cold corridor for hours after not being allowed into a departure lounge with seats.
An existing area will now be prepared - from today onwards - for passengers arriving on overnight flights who have to wait until the departing lounge is officially opened at 5am.
General manager operations at Auckland Airport, Anna Cassels-Brown, told RNZ's Morning Report that a gate lounge in the arrivals pathway is being readied as airport management and Aviation Security work to come up with a permanent solution.
"What I really want to say is how sorry I am for these customers because the key thing is this is absolutely not a level of service that we want to provide.
The apology comes after the Herald broke the story that more than 100 passengers arriving on a flight from Samoa were forced to sit and sleep on the floor of a cold corridor at the Auckland International Airport after being refused entry into a lounge with seats.
Passengers included elderly and young children who had touched down about 2am from Apia, Samoa early on Sunday.
The flight had been due to arrive in Auckland at 1am. But a delay with the Auckland to Apia flight meant a delay back in Samoa.
Passengers affected had arrived on a delayed flight from Samoa in the early hours of Sunday morning. Photo / Supplied
Passenger Elizabeth Nanai said: "They expected us to sit on the ground in this cold area - we'd just arrived from the islands, we started looking for blankets and clothes to use to sit and lie down on.
"There was no customer care. It was all about the rule book - commonsense had gone out the window."
Transit passengers are required to be screened again before being allowed into the departure lounge areas.
Auckland Airport said yesterday that a dedicated transit screening point is operated by Aviation Security from 90 minutes before the first departing flight of the day until 11pm.
Although there has been an arrangement for AVSEC to screen passengers outside those hours, it was dependent on its ability to redeploy staff to that area, Auckland Airport said.
However, in a statement to the Herald this morning, AVSEC said passenger welfare is the responsibility of the airline - in this case, Air New Zealand - to manage in conjunction with the airport company.
AVSEC group manager operations Karen Urwin said they roster staff to planned demand and unless they are advised of additional demand in a timely way, they are unable to recall staff to manage the additional work.
A woman looks down at her young daughter as she sleeps on the cold vinyl at Auckland International Airport after arriving from Samoa in the early hours of Sunday morning. Photo / Supplied
"Unfortunately, AVSEC did not receive any communication from the airline about the delay regarding the incoming flight and the large number of transit passengers who were onboard," Urwin said.
"In this instance, had AVSEC diverted staff from other duties to open the transit screening point, there would have been major delays in processing passengers for the early morning departing flights - including the flight that these particular passengers were connected to."
Urwin explained that staff had been waiting to screen the affected passengers who were initially due to arrive in Auckland at 1am. The transit point was due to be open at 1.30am for a processing time of 30 minutes.
However, the flight was delayed and the aircraft touched down at 1.55am instead.
"Allowing for disembarkation and the walk from Gate 18 - which is the most distant gate at Auckland Airport - the passengers were likely to have presented after [2.30am]," Urwin said.
"By then the transit point was closed and staff deployed to other duties and setting up the main screening point equipment for processing of departing passengers, which starts at [4am]."
