Cyclone Gita disrupts Air New Zealand flights

Disruptions to Air New Zealand flights from Wellington to Australia are expected to stretch into Wednesday after the remnants of Cyclone Gita prompted the airline to cancel all flights to and from the New Zealand capital. The Kiwi carrier cancelled all flights into and out of Wellington from 2:45pm to midnight due to severe weather warnings that included winds of up to 150kmh (93mph). The cancelled services included two Tuesday flights between Sydney and Wellington, one between Wellington and Sydney and one between Melbourne and Wellington. The airline said in a travel alert this meant services from Wellington to Sydney and Wellington to Melbourne would also be cancelled on Wednesday. Air New Zealand  issued fare waivers for customers ticketed with it prior to Sunday February 18 that would allow them to defer travel to March 1 without penalty, subject to customers paying extra if travel in the same class was unavailable. Where the proposed date of travel was unknown, the airline said the value of the ticket would be held in credit for up to 12 months. “In this instance change penalty will be waived but fare difference and service fees will apply when re-booking,’’ it said. Customers could also change destinations, but additional fares and taxes would apply, and normal refund rules were in force that meant non-refundable fares would remain so. Travellers were advised to delay their journey and Air NZ warned any who chose to start their trip that they would do so at their own risk. “Air New Zealand will not be liable for any costs associated with disrupted travel should a customer opt to travel as planned,’’ it said. “You will need to refer to your travel insurance provider for any incidental costs if your travel plans are disrupted.” It also warned the nature of the cyclone meant return travel to and from Norfolk island could be further disrupted at any point and it would not be liable for any costs associated with the disruption. The cyclone had previously battered the South Pacific islands of Tonga, Samoa and Fiji  with winds of up 275kmh (171mph), causing widespread damage. The latest cancellations comes after AirNZ recently warned it would be re-timing some international flights can cancelling a limited number because of problems with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines on its Boeing 787-9 fleet. The global nature of the Trent 1000 problem means that Rolls-Royce does not have replacement engines available while maintenance work is performed on the existing Air NZ power plants.