Flood Damage at Auckland Airport Halts International Flights

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New Zealand’s largest airport delayed the reopening of its international terminal on Saturday because “critical components” of infrastructure were damaged by severe flooding following a sudden summer storm.

Bloomberg News

Ainsley Thomson and Danny Lee

Posted January 28, 2023 • 2 minute read

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(Bloomberg) – New Zealand’s busiest airport delayed the reopening of its international terminal on Saturday because “critical components” of infrastructure were damaged by severe flooding following a sudden summer storm.

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Auckland Airport reported a record rain of 249mm (9.8 inches) in 24 hours, forcing international and domestic terminals to halt flights on Friday afternoon. While local services have resumed, no international departures are expected to take place before 5am local time on Sunday and arrivals will be delayed until 7am

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“Certainly the airport has never been tested in this way before,” said Carrie Hurihanganui, Auckland Airport Chief Executive Officer. “Our assessment is that we need more time to ensure everything is working well and more importantly safely before we resume international operations.”

The storm, which hit Auckland on Friday and Saturday, left the city inundated after a record amount of rain fell in 24 hours. At least three people were killed.

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Air New Zealand said it was unable to resume international flights from Auckland by 12pm on Sunday due to significant damage to ticketing, baggage and processing equipment.

“We know that airport and flight operations will be back up by noon and we will restart at around three flights per hour once we do,” said David Morgan, Air New Zealand’s Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer . “For context, we typically run about 13 baggage carousels, but with the damage we could be reduced to just three.”

Hurihanganui apologized for the “extraordinary disruption and discomfort” suffered by at least 2,000 travelers who were stranded in the airport’s flooded buildings after the storm late Friday into the early hours of Saturday.

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Some passengers who were already boarding a plane when the storm hit stayed on the grounded plane for hours.

On Saturday, FlightRadar listed 100 out of 171 departing flights as canceled and 93 out of 191 arrivals.

Around 40 flights were diverted from Auckland to Christchurch on Friday and Saturday, including Air New Zealand flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver.

Crew and passengers on Air Canada and Emirates flights to Auckland were turned back to Dubai and Vancouver respectively on Friday – most likely due to the weather situation in New Zealand’s commercial capital.

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