The 2.45pm Air New Zealand flight from Queenstown to Auckland yesterday was delayed by about 30 minutes when a passenger who was unwell needed to disembark.
The aircraft had moved from the gate, but not taken off, Air New Zealand said yesterday.
St John was called by air traffic controllers at 3pm.
A man was transferred on a stretcher to an ambulance on the airside of the airport from the parked airliner by three ambulance officers, after which NZ644 was able to leave.
The man had suffered a seizure and was taken to the Lakes District Hospital, where he was in a stable condition last night.
