Queenstown Airport curfew almost grounds flight to Auckland

A curfew at Queenstown Airport means most flights must have taken off or landed before 10 pm. Photo / Sarah Pollok

It was 9.30 pm on Friday evening and at Gate 3 of Queenstown Airport, dozens of passengers and staff were waiting with bated breath.

Thanks to two flight delays, some had been waiting at the gate for hours, while others had watched their app update from an 8.15 pm departure time to 9.15 pm, then 9.45 pm.

"Okay everyone, prepare for the world's fastest offboarding and onboarding," joked the gate agent through the loudspeaker, before instructing us to queue behind the ticket scanner in row numbers.

Passengers queued up according to row number as part of a super fast on boarding. Photo / Sarah Pollok

At a glance, aside from the flight's delayed schedule, nothing seemed problematic about the scene. Until you noticed the policeman pacing around the terminal; one eye on the plane and another on his wristwatch.

The problem was, it was 9.30 pm and the second the clock ticked over to 10 pm, it would be illegal for our flight to depart from the airport.

When a check-in employee said things were a rush to make it before curfew, I had laughed. Despite taking dozens of flights in recent months, most had been through major international hubs with very small or nonexistent no-fly times.

Like several airports around Aotearoa, Queenstown Airport has a curfew. By this time, any departing flight must be 'wheels up', (taken off with wheels retracted) or 'wheels down' (landed).

Planes that depart or arrive after 10 pm breach the airport's resource consent, granted by the Queenstown Lakes District Council. Only in emergency situations could a plane depart later without consequences.

However, delaying a flight until the next day isn't without a hefty cost to the airline.

If the delay is within the airline's control (due to staffing shortage, mechanical issues, or general lateness), passengers can claim compensation up to 10 times the cost of the ticket, or the actual cost of the delay.

If all 171 seats were occupied by passengers who paid approximately $100 (like I did) and claimed 10 times the cost of their ticket, that is a $171,000 hit.

So, as the clock ticked towards 10 pm, we found our row partners and queued up while a race-day anticipation built in the air.

Then, we got the green light and it was a rush through the scanner, across the tarmac and onto the plane.

The comradery was in full force as people helped one another stow their carry-on bags, seat small children and fasten seatbelts.

Passengers could be heard encouraging one another along, as we united against the common enemy of the 10 pm curfew.

At 9.59 pm with 30 seconds until 10 pm, the wheels lifted as we zoomed across the runway, resulting in a wave of whoops and applause.

The plane erupted into applause when the flight managed to depart before curfew. Photo / Sarah Pollok

In July, passengers weren't quite so lucky and hundreds of passengers not only didn't make it to their destination but ended up stranded in the wrong airport altogether.

The Qantas flight from Sydney was scheduled to arrive in Wellington, but after realising they couldn't land in Wellington before the 1 am curfew, they landed at Christchurch Airport.