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Air NZ cancels flights on fuel shortage

Air NZ has cancelled 29 flights, with Melbourne and Sydney among the affected routes, because of a fuel shortage at Auckland Airport.

Air New Zealand has cancelled nearly 30 flights including one each from Melbourne and Sydney because of a shortage of fuel caused by a ruptured line at Auckland Airport.

About 2,000 travellers have been affected by Monday's seven cancellations alone, with fuel supplies to airlines at Auckland Airport cut after a digger hit a pipeline last week.

The dual-listed airline's shares on the ASX fell as much as 4.4 per cent on Monday before recovering ground.

They were down 4.0 cents, or 1.35 per cent, at $2.92 at 1515 AEST after the airline said the issue is unlikely to have a material impact on its 2017/18 earnings.

Air NZ said it was working to consolidate passenger loads and minimise fuel usage, with some long-haul services to and from Asia and North America refuelling in Pacific or Australian airports.

Air NZ chief operations integrity and standards officer David Morgan said refuelling stops have so far gone well and the practice will continue to alleviate pressure on Auckland fuel supplies.

"Aviation is a critical transport industry and the lifeblood for tourism and we are naturally extremely disappointed with this infrastructure failure," Captain Morgan said.

The airline cancelled seven flights on Monday, including one from Melbourne to Auckland.

Another 10, including one from Sydney, have been scratched from Tuesday's schedules, and a further 12 on Wednesday.


2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



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