Route NZ405 on its way past Wellington on September 10, 2024
Photo: Flight Radar 24 / delivered

An Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Wellington was diverted to Christchurch on Tuesday morning.

Flight tracking website Flight Radar 24 showed flight NZ405 circled over Cook Strait before heading south to Christchurch.

“Flight NZ405 from Auckland to Wellington was diverted to Christchurch this morning due to a hydraulic failure,” an airline spokesman told RNZ.

“This meant the aircraft needed a longer runway to land. The safety of our employees and customers is our number one priority. Affected customers will be re-accommodated at the next available service.”

A passenger on board the plane, James Camons, told RNZ the pilot tried to land the plane in the capital twice before telling passengers he had to fly to Christchurch.

“It was a bit scary. I think most of the passengers were quite nervous after the second attempt failed and the pilot said, ‘You know what, we can’t land.'”

Emergency crews checked the plane at Christchurch airport before passengers disembarked, Camons said.

“Fortunately we landed safely in Christchurch, I am very happy about that,” he said.

He added, however, that he was not happy with the five-hour wait for the next flight that the airline had scheduled for him.

Camons was due to land in Wellington at 8.30am and will not arrive there until 3pm, meaning he will not be able to attend the meetings he travelled to.

“We have a lot of dissatisfied passengers,” he said.

“It’s an absolute joke how they handled it.”

Air New Zealand said it had placed passengers on the first available flight.