Qantas Passengers "dumped" at Christchurch airport after diverting from Wellington after missing curfew

[justinbrett]

Ah, there’s a further 30 minute grace period for delayed flights, so they have until 0130. They’re fine.

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

Est arrival time on FR24 is 0118. The wlg airport website shows est arrival 0102.

 

[HSB44]

View attachment 283696
I hope there's no rule against memes

This is amazing, can we please keep the tally board updated on a regular basis??

 

[HSB44]

Awww I can feel the love from Qantas, as we approach the holiday season

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
Passengers sleeping on the airport floor...
And the prettiest sight to see
Is the savings that will be
On the Qantas profit statement
Yes it's Christmas for Qantas once more

Merry Christmas 'Straya
Please make sure you are match fit!

 

[TomVexille]

Awww I can feel the love from Qantas, as we approach the holiday season

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
Passengers sleeping on the airport floor...
And the prettiest sight to see
Is the savings that will be
On the Qantas profit statement
Yes it's Christmas for Qantas once more

Merry Christmas 'Straya
Please make sure you are match fit!

And don't forget the performance bonuses for the execs

 

[kangarooflyer88]

And don't forget the performance bonuses for the execs

At least passengers get their status for nothin' and their vouchers for free!

 

[justinbrett]

Awww I can feel the love from Qantas

Yes, QF got the pax to WLG tonight within the grace period, landing at 0101. Win for everybody I’d say.

 

[AIRwin]

Win for everybody I’d say.

Win-dy Wellington!

 

[MooTime]

So if the flight left on time or before schedule they couldn't land in Wellington after 1am, but departing 1 minute after schedule The flight is considered delayed so they get the extra 30 mins dispensation?

That how it works?
I get that if it's the case, just over of the oddities in life

Thanks for answer in advance.
Just curious btw.

 

[justinbrett]

So if the flight left on time or before schedule they couldn't land in Wellington after 1am, but departing 1 minute after schedule The flight is considered delayed so they get the extra 30 mins dispensation?

That how it works?
I get that if it's the case, just over of the oddities in life

Thanks for answer in advance.
Just curious btw.

They would have to schedule to land before the curfew.

If they depart one minute late, the only way they’re going to need the full 30 minutes is an unusually strong headwind, more than the seasonal average, which would also count as disruption.

 

[antycbr]

They would have to schedule to land before the curfew.

If they depart one minute late, the only way they’re going to need the full 30 minutes is an unusually strong headwind, more than the seasonal average, which would also count as disruption.

All of this is so fluffy compared to SYD. The Member for Grayndler wouldn’t want his constituents sleep disrupted!

 

[encryptededdy]

My friend's on tonight's QF163 and was just diverted to Auckland because they missed the curfew.

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/QFA163/history/20221122/0750Z/YSSY/NZAA

Once again though, from looking at the flight path, it seems like they thought they would be able to make WLG but didn't in the end

They were really pushing it though.

 

[henrus]

My friend's on tonight's QF163 and was just diverted to Auckland because they missed the curfew.

Someone on ET mentioned that they were just "dumped" as well. Are you able to confirm this or did they provide more details as to onward travel + overnight accommodation?

 

[encryptededdy]

Someone on ET mentioned that they were just "dumped" as well. Are you able to confirm this or did they provide more details as to onward travel + overnight accommodation?

I'm informed no accommodation was offered.

I'm also told that they had to clear immigration in Auckland, since Wellington didn't have staff for customs and immigration until midday. Unsure how the flight left from the international terminal as a domestic flight.

I will ask about how / what communication was shared with the passengers

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I'm informed no accommodation was offered.

Doesn't New Zealand consumer law state that accommodation must be offered in the event of overnight delays like these? Certainly if the passengers were travelling Air New Zealand and this had happened, they would've been provided with accommodation since weather events are deemed within the airline's control for such accommodations provided of course the travellers are Star Alliance Gold members and those travelling in BusinessFirst.

I'm also told that they had to clear immigration in Auckland, since Wellington didn't have staff for customs and immigration until midday.

Had to or that they were allowed to? At a major airport like AKL, I'd be surprised if connecting passengers on an international journey would be forced to clear any immigration. After all this isn't the states where there is no distinction between an international and domestic departure.

Unsure how the flight left from the international terminal as a domestic flight.

Per Google Flights QF163 continued at 9 AM today from AKL down to WLG departing from terminal the international terminal:


Two possibilities: either they clear New Zealand emmigration at AKL then cleared immigration at WLG. Alternatively they could've just been escorted to the jet by customs as domestic travellers. That being said, this is another example of why segregation of international and domestic departures needs to stop.

-RooFlyer88

 

[henrus]

I'm also told that they had to clear immigration in Auckland, since Wellington didn't have staff for customs and immigration until midday. Unsure how the flight left from the international terminal as a domestic flight.

NZ has the same D sticker system that we have in Australia, it's just not really used these days. Most recent frequent use was the Air NZ flight that went NRT-CHC-AKL-NRT but that's long gone.

Certainly if the passengers were travelling Air New Zealand and this had happened, they would've been provided with accommodation since weather events are deemed within the airline's control for such accommodations provided of course the travellers are Star Alliance Gold members and those travelling in BusinessFirst.

Pre covid in 2019 I was on a flight from BNE-CHC with Air NZ, The lounge manger in BNE at the time actually warned us on entry that it was likely wouldn't make it to CHC that night due to fog. Sure enough he was right and whilst the flight followed the normal path to CHC the fog was too much (we did enter a holding pattern for a couple of minutes) and we diverted to AKL. It was an A320neo so had wifi and about half way between the CHC to AKL diversion I saw we had been automatically rebooked on a CHC-AKL domestic flight at 6am the next morning (NZ Gold at the time). I actually used wifi called via the planes satellite wifi to call Air NZ and move to an 8am flight instead. When we landed in Auckland everyone was given accommodation for the night, a bus to the hotel and a taxi voucher back from the hotel to the airport the next morning. It was midnight and I walked over to the Novotel getting a really good last minute rate (no idea if accor status helped but I did mention it) so I never ended up using the Air NZ hotel which was apparently about a 25-30min drive away according to Google maps.

 

[encryptededdy]

Had to or that they were allowed to?

Had to. Reasoning was Wellington couldn't handle an international arrival before midday, so presumebly they had to arrive as domestic.

 

[Franky]

Had to. Reasoning was Wellington couldn't handle an international arrival before midday, so presumebly they had to arrive as domestic.

Surely it’s time that QF had a good hard look at the logistics of this flight, and then made the obvious decision to either drop it, or make the schedule a certainty rather than a possibility?

 

[RooFlyer]

Surely it’s time that QF had a good hard look at the logistics of this flight, and then made the obvious decision to either drop it, or make the schedule a certainty rather than a possibility?

Yes, but you are making the mistake of looking at it from a customer's point of view. Look at it from Qantas' point of view. The flight makes it - fine. The flight doesn't make it ... dump the pax and tomorrow is a new day.

 

[dajop]

That being said, this is another example of why segregation of international and domestic departures needs to stop.

Needs to stop? The downside of this is that essentially means that anyone taking an international flight out the country would need to be actually in the country first. So connecting passengers (from other international flights) would have to pass through immigration and enter the country first in order to connect to their onward flight. For New Zealand, I am guessing it would be OK for QF, JQ and VA, and for NZ would probably work well for departures from CHC, WLG and ZQN. But not sure it would work so well for AKL, with more I->I connecting traffic.