Air New Zealand's inaugural direct flight from Auckland to New York prepares for take off. Video / Stephanie Holmes
Luggage issues have struck Air New Zealand's freshly launched direct New York service NZ1, with dozens of passengers left wondering where their bags were.
Around 40 passengers returning from JFK were left without luggage after a decision by the carrier to unload excess luggage.
The plane which took off from John F Kennedy International at 11.20pm local time touched down shortly before 8.30am this morning.
The seventeen-and-a-half trip is the longest flown by Air New Zealand and its 787 Dreamliner fleet, further extended by a delay into AKL.
One Hamilton-based passenger and her husband were among the fifty or so passengers left waiting for an hour to be told that their luggage had been left behind.
"We had to be told by a fellow passenger that our bags were not on the flight," she said.
Returning from a ten-day holiday to the US they said there were issues checking in luggage and finding tickets at JFK, which was at odds with the hype around the inaugural service.
"We were greeted at Auckland by media celebrating the success of the route, however things were a shambles outside of the flight itself."
A late change to accommodate a sports team thought to be the Jamaican national netball team, added to issues on the inaugural flight.
The womens' netball team reportedly had suffered passport issues ahead of fixtures in Auckland this week, with half the team rebooked to fly this Monday.
Air New Zealand's chief operating officer Alex Marren said the cession some bags were left behind on Eastern seaboard due to adverse flying conditions.
"Unfortunately, given additional fuel requirements due to adverse weather, some customer bags were unable to be loaded in New York and we are getting them to New Zealand as soon as possible" she said.
Air New Zealand did not comment on how luggage was prioritised for offloading.
The Air New Zealand 787-9 Dreamliner was forced to offload luggage on the route out of JFK due to adverse weather. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Luggage was already on its way back to New Zealand but could take up to two days to be reunited with owners.
"We are in touch with customers to update them and reunite them with their bags. We're sorry for any inconvenience this has caused."
JFK to AKL: The longest leg
The new US service was launched on Saturday, with NZ2 being Air New Zealand's first direct service to the east coast of the US.
A spokesperson for Air New Zealand said that the inbound flight to Auckland is always longer due to prevailing headwinds, but in this case the flight path was to avoid a weather system.
This was a bad start to the inaugural flight said Met Service meteorologist Lewis Ferris, but flight schedulers had had to factor for the known sub-tropical jet streams.
"It won't always have the same impact on flights as it can fluctuate in strength and position but it is a semi-permanent feature."
Delays in from New York might be a common occurrence.
This could be a fly in the ointment for ambitions to make Auckland a new hub for flights to the Atlantic sea.
Last month Qantas announced it would be launching its own JFK AKL direct service from June next year.
"We think this route will be very popular with Australians given the opportunity to connect via Auckland and it also gives New Zealanders more choice," said the Australian airline's CEO, Alan Joyce.
However Qantas passengers will also have to grapple with the long return leg.
