Emirates EK448 from Dubai became a 13-hour flight to nowhere, this weekend. Photo / Flight Radar 24
Emirates EK448 from Dubai became a 13-hour flight to nowhere, this weekend. Photo / Flight Radar 24
Passengers flying on one of the longest routes to New Zealand discovered that, halfway into their 16 hour flight, they were being turned around and sent back to Dubai.
EK448 was set to arrive in Auckland at 11.20am on Saturday from Dubai.
Unbeknownst to the passengers and crew, they would never make it due to the severe flooding at Auckland International Airport.
Bemused travellers found themselves back in the UAE shortly after midnight, having flown 14,000km to nowhere.
EK448 was one of the longest routes affected by Auckland’s 37-hour travel shutdown, due to severe flooding.
Elsewhere on the network Air New Zealand’s flight from Houston NZ29 made an unscheduled day-long layover in Rarotonga as it was unable to turn back.
On Friday NZ29 from Houston made an unscheduled stopover in Rarotonga due to flooding. Photo / Flight Radar
Terminal buildings in Mangere were washed out after a deluge of 25 centimetres of rain fell in just 24 hours, Auckland’s wettest day in almost four decades.
Over 2000 passengers sheltered at the airport on Friday night, and thousands more had their inbound travel affected by the flooding.
While domestic schedules resumed over the weekend, Auckland’s International terminal was closed for longer to asses the damage, with flights only resuming at 7am on Sunday.
With 41 international departures and 39 arrivals on Sunday, the reduced schedule had further knock on effects to the travel backlog.
Some passengers have been told there is limited availability into New Zealand until the end of the month, due to the runway closure coming at peak travel season, when aircraft are extremely full.
Yesterday Air New Zealand said it knew of 9000 passengers whose travel had been affected by the runway closure.
Flooding at Auckland Airport on January 27. Photo / Pamela Mills / Twitter
What can affected passengers do?
Compensation owed to international passengers depends largely on which country you’re travelling from and the airline you are flying with.
Flights cancelled by weather events, or other factors outside their control have less clear - generally airlines will rebook travellers onto the next available flight or provide flight credit.
Travel insurance will often cover expenses from delays or cancellations. Check your policy and contact your insurer.
Air New Zealand said that it was trying to “provide accommodation as required for as many displaced customers as possible”.
The airline’s chief of customer and sales, Leanne Geraghty, said that they were dealing with thousands of rebookings following the 37-hour window during which Auckland was shut to air traffic.
Affected passengers who have arranged their own accommodation should email FlightComment@airnz.co.nz with receipts, for which they will receive compensation of up to $250 per night.
Any passengers affected by the floods between 27 and 30 January, will have change fees or and fare differences waived on travel booked up to 28 February.
“Our teams are working incredibly hard to get customers rebooked as soon as possible,” she said.
Affected Air New Zealand passengers should visit their travel alerts page for further details.
