Hundreds of passengers at Dunedin and Queenstown airports were among thousands left facing frustrating delays yesterday, after Air New Zealand was forced to ground its fleet of ATR-500 turboprop aircraft.
The airline's move came after hairline cracks were found around the cockpit windows of one of the 11-aircraft ATR fleet - operated by subsidiary Mount Cook Airlines - during routine maintenance in Christchurch.
The airline cancelled all ATR flights until each aircraft could be inspected and cleared for flight by engineers, leading to the cancellation of about 60 flights and travel disruption for about 3000 passengers around New Zealand.
At Queenstown Airport, six flights, two inbound and four outbound, were cancelled as a result, with up to 400 passengers affected. One airport staff member said there were "people everywhere".
Jet services out of the resort were also full, meaning passengers were facing long bus trips to their destinations or another night in Queenstown.
"It's a bad day. It's Sunday - everybody's trying to get home."
At Dunedin International Airport, three inbound and three outbound flights were cancelled, with passengers forced to wait until ferried to their destinations by a one-off Airbus A320 service late yesterday.
One of the 68-seat ATR aircraft remained stranded on the airport apron when the Otago Daily Times visited, while passengers gathered in the arrivals hall or tried to sleep on bench seats.
Tracy Pearson (47), a clothing agent of Auckland, was among frustrated passengers who spent the day at the airport terminal.
She had arrived to find her 10.45am flight to Christchurch had been cancelled, followed later by the cancellation of the 2.30pm ATR flight on which she was initially rescheduled to fly.
The cancellations left her waiting for the late-afternoon Airbus service, and meant she missed a business appointment in Christchurch.
Ms Pearson criticised the airline's decision to ground the entire fleet as "over cautious", given each aircraft had its own maintenance checks.
"Unless there's reason for them to believe a specific plane has got any specific problem, I don't think they need to treat them all the same."
Another returning Aucklander, Monique Oomen, said she was "a little bit frustrated" after also spending the day at the terminal, but accepted the airline's decision to ground the entire fleet.
"I think our aviation safety record is pretty good. I would rather that they ground planes if they need to check something," she said.
Mount Cook general manager Sarah Williamson said in a statement the airline regretted the cancellations and inconvenience, but the safety of customers, staff and aircraft was "paramount and non-negotiable".
Two ATRs had since been cleared and would fly again today, with other Air New Zealand aircraft helping boost services back to about two-thirds of normal seat capacity.
Inspections would continue on the rest of the fleet, with three aircraft requiring closer examination and five more "well advanced" in the inspection process, she said.
"We expect to introduce more aircraft back into service later on Monday."
The ATR-500 aircraft have been in service with Mount Cook since 1999 and have an average age of 10.9 years. The 68-seat aircraft flies to 10 destinations around New Zealand.
