National leader Bill English says he is disturbed a burst fuel pipeline has disrupted people's travel plans but he remains confident the situation will be rectified as soon as possible.
Flights from Auckland Airport have been cancelled and delayed after an oil pipeline from Marsden Point burst on Thursday. The pipeline was initially damaged by a digger trying to extract kauri logs near Ruakaka.
Over the last 24 hours 27 flights have been cancelled. Auckland Airport chief executive Adrian Littlewood said the airport is working closely with airlines and other airport stakeholders to monitor the impact of the temporary disruption on airlines and their operations.
When will it be resolved?
Oil companies have predicted it could take 10 to 14 days to restore normal supplies and long-haul flights are being redirected to refuelling stops at other NZ or international airports.
Passengers have reported varying degrees of help from their airlines, with some facing unplanned stop-offs to refuel at Sydney or Christchuch - which meant some were likely to miss connecting flights to other destinations.
Brent Thomas, House of Travel's commercial director told the Herald staff were already handling calls from worried clients.
"It's an unusual situation - I've never seen anything like it in my time in the industry,'' said Thomas who has been in travel for the past 20 years.
"We have got the school holidays in two weeks time, hopefully it's fixed by then.''
He said travel insurance would typically cover a ''reasonable'' cost of disruption from an event such as the fuel problem but every case was different.
Damage seen to a fuel pipeline running from the Marsden Point refinery near Whangarei. Photo / Supplied
What flights are affected?
Air New Zealand has published a list of flights that have been cancelled due to the shortage. Customers currently booked to travel into or out of Auckland over the coming week are advised to keep an eye on the Travel Alerts page of the Air New Zealand website for the latest information.
NZ729 Auckland to Melbourne Sunday 17 September NZ722 Melbourne to Auckland Monday 18 September NZ543 Auckland to Christchurch Monday 18 September NZ550 Christchurch to Auckland Monday 18 September NZ413 Auckland to Wellington Monday 18 September NZ420 Wellington to Auckland Monday 18 September NZ437 Auckland to Wellington Monday 18 September NZ444 Wellington to Auckland Monday 18 September NZ718 Sydney to Auckland Tuesday 19 September NZ719 Auckland to Sydney Tuesday 19 September NZ411 Auckland to Wellington Tuesday 19 September NZ418 Wellington to Auckland Tuesday 19 September NZ429 Auckland to Wellington Tuesday 19 September NZ428 Wellington to Auckland Tuesday 19 September NZ538 Christchurch to Auckland Tuesday 19 September NZ543 Auckland to Christchurch Tuesday 19 September NZ555 Auckland to Christchurch Tuesday 19 September NZ566 Christchurch to Auckland Tuesday 19 September
Four flights due in from Sydney at 12.20pm have been cancelled along with five others due to depart across the ditch at 1.10pm. Three flights due to land from Melbourne at 2.15pm, involving Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia, were earlier cancelled.
We recommended all passengers regularly check flight info and contact their airlines if their flight is affected https://t.co/vAjz6c8auG
An airport spokesperson said there have been a few new domestic cancellations, however due to the volume of flights between Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch many passengers would likely be put on other flights. A Blenheim flight has also been affected.
The spokesperson said there were currently 14 international or domestic flights cancelled.
A Qantas group spokesperson said Jetstar and Qantas were working to minimise the impact to their customers as much as possible. They will reach out to any impacted customers and people are encouraged to check their flight status online.
Emirates flight EK449 from Auckland to Dubai will temporarily be rerouted to Melbourne for refueling. The flight will depart Auckland at 8.30pm, arrive in Melbourne at 10.40pm, leave Melbourne at 12.25am and arrive in Dubai at 8.30am.
