A stranded passenger from Queenstown traveled halfway across the South Island to board a flight north as Air New Zealand struggled to clear the holiday backlog.

Nearly half a dozen flights have been canceled today, stranding passengers as the airline continues to clear a ‘perfect storm’ of holiday backlogs.

Additional flights are being put in place to try to speed up the process, but frustration is spreading among some passengers forced to shell out more than $1,000 for return seats.

Chantal was supposed to fly from Queenstown to Auckland on a work contract but had to travel almost 500km and spend the night in a hotel in Christchurch before boarding a replacement flight this afternoon.

“I was put on hold for over three hours with Air NZ.”

Chantal said she had been booked by the airline for two more replacement flights which were also cancelled.

“I checked the app for information about the flight I was supposed to be on, and no flights were listed.

“So I had no idea what flight I was going to land on, what time I was supposed to catch him, or where he would take me.”

Chantal arrived at the crowded Queenstown airport and managed to speak to airline staff.

“I got all the information I needed including the hotel they were going to put me in, vouchers for the taxi, to and from the airport and some food vouchers as well.”

Leanne Geraghty, Air New Zealand’s chief customer and sales officer, said the airline was still enduring a “perfect storm” of a very busy end to the school holidays, with weather and crew illness causing disturbances.

“Due to these disruptions, recovery may take several days, and we are working on potential alternative transportation options for customers and encouraging those with non-emergency trips to increase their fare on credit.

“Air New Zealand is putting a 300-seat 787 into service today from Auckland-Christchurch-Auckland.

“There will also be additional flights from Christchurch to Queenstown and Wellington today to help customers get home.”

Five flights had been canceled today due to bad weather.

Geraghty said when the reason for a flight cancellation was within Air New Zealand’s control, the airline would provide overnight accommodation arranged at the airport or at an agreed value, if customers made their own arrangements. and upon proof of receipt.

“Customers can get in touch with their receipts and we will arrange reimbursement accordingly.

“If a flight has been canceled due to weather conditions and customers have to stay overnight, this would normally be covered by the customer or through their travel insurance.

“However, if a customer is halfway through their trip (at a port of call) and the next flight is disrupted, we do our best to arrange suitable accommodation for the night.”

Caitlin Mehrtens spent nearly $1,500 on last-minute plane tickets after the original flights for her children to see their grandmother were canned due to Covid-19 and bad weather.

Mehrtens said the first flight had been booked for July 9, however, upon arriving at the airport gate, they were informed that it had been canceled and the only other flight available was for July 15.

“We booked a late night flight for July 14 which cost us nearly $1,000 and we had to pay full price.

“We faced more hours of delays, but my children managed to board this flight.”

Mehrtens said the nightmare was not over yet, with return flights for their children costing them an additional $900.

“Air NZ said all they could do was offer flight credits for the original flights, which were obviously significantly lower than the last minute flights we had to book due to their mistakes,” Mehrtens said.

“Even with those flight credits, we lost almost $1,500 in flight costs (again, not including the incredible parking fees, fuel costs for extra trips to the airport, and losing income during this period).”

Air NZ has different prices for different seats on the plane, Geraghty said.

“As the popularity of flights increases, the faster the cheaper seats are sold. Although each flight offers low fares, these fares slowly increase as the flight fills up.

“A lot of times when someone sees a higher price, it’s because someone else has booked the last of those lower fares, so the next price tier is now available.

“That means last-minute flight fares are higher. It’s a common misconception, but we don’t change the price based on previous flight searches. Rather based on seat availability.”

For up-to-date flight information, keep an eye on Air NZ Arrivals and departures page.