Home » AIRLINE NEWS » Flight Cancellations in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, Invercargill and more Brings Travel Disruption across New Zealand with over a Dozen Suspension by Air New Zealand, Update You Need to Know

Published on
November 6, 2025

The skies above New Zealand on 6th November, 2025, currently facing significant turbulence, not from weather, but from widespread operational disruption. A surge in flight cancellations by Air New Zealand is causing major headaches for travelers across the country. Key hubs like Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch are feeling the greatest pinch. Regional gateways, including Invercargill and more regional cities, also report widespread schedule fallout. Overall, the carrier announced over a dozen flight suspension, confirming a high degree of travel disruption. According to FlightAware’s data, there’s a total of 18 cancellations and 80 delays reported. The number of cancellations makes immediate recovery challenging. This ongoing situation affects hundreds of passengers. The article explains how the issues in the network are unfolding across these vital Air New Zealand routes. It details the extensive cancellations and delays that are impacting the nation’s air travel sector.

The disruption to the schedule was predominantly observed among flights serviced by regional aircraft, namely the ATR 72 (AT72) and the De Havilland Dash 8 (DH8C) turboprops, with the larger Airbus A320 (A320) jet aircraft also being involved. The majority of affected Air New Zealand flights, were scheduled for operation on a Thursday, with a smaller but significant number extending into Friday morning.

The regional turboprop fleet, which is crucial for inter-island and secondary city connectivity, bore the brunt of the immediate operational challenge. Twelve flights serviced by the DH8C and AT72 aircraft were scheduled for the Thursday morning and afternoon periods, connecting regional centres like Invercargill, Woodbourne, Kerikeri and Tauranga with the major hubs of Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. The jet-operated flights, including the ANZ332, ANZ412, ANZ531 and ANZ544 services, were scheduled for Friday and operate the high-volume routes between the three largest cities—Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.FlightAircraftOriginDestinationScheduled TimeANZ5703AT72Christchurch Int’l (CHC / NZCH)Invercargill (IVC / NZNV)Thu 06:45AM NZDTANZ5150DH8CRotorua (ROT / NZRO)Auckland (AKL / NZAA)Thu 07:00AM NZDTANZ5725DH8CWellington Int’l (WLG / NZWN)Woodbourne (BHE / NZWB)Thu 07:50AM NZDTANZ5336DH8CChristchurch Int’l (CHC / NZCH)Wellington Int’l (WLG / NZWN)Thu 08:00AM NZDTANZ5266DH8CAuckland (AKL / NZAA)Kerikeri/Bay of Islands (KKE / NZKK)Thu 08:45AM NZDTANZ5704AT72Invercargill (IVC / NZNV)Christchurch Int’l (CHC / NZCH)Thu 08:45AM NZDTANZ5129DH8CAuckland (AKL / NZAA)Tauranga (TRG / NZTG)Thu 08:45AM NZDTANZ5726DH8CWoodbourne (BHE / NZWB)Wellington Int’l (WLG / NZWN)Thu 08:50AM NZDTANZ5128DH8CTauranga (TRG / NZTG)Auckland (AKL / NZAA)Thu 10:00AM NZDTANZ5267DH8CKerikeri/Bay of Islands (KKE / NZKK)Auckland (AKL / NZAA)Thu 10:05AM NZDTANZ5067AT72Auckland (AKL / NZAA)Nelson (NSN / NZNS)Thu 10:55AM NZDTANZ5882DH8CWellington Int’l (WLG / NZWN)Napier (NPE / NZNR)Thu 11:40AM NZDTANZ5889DH8CNapier (NPE / NZNR)Wellington Int’l (WLG / NZWN)Thu 01:10PM NZDTANZ5072AT72Nelson (NSN / NZNS)Auckland (AKL / NZAA)Thu 01:25PM NZDTANZ332A320Christchurch Int’l (CHC / NZCH)Wellington Int’l (WLG / NZWN)Fri 07:10AM NZDTANZ412A320Wellington Int’l (WLG / NZWN)Auckland (AKL / NZAA)Fri 08:35AM NZDTANZ531A320Auckland (AKL / NZAA)Christchurch Int’l (CHC / NZCH)Fri 10:10AM NZDTANZ544A320Christchurch Int’l (CHC / NZCH)Auckland (AKL / NZAA)Fri 12:40PM NZDT

Christchurch-Wellington: An essential inter-island connection serviced by both turboprop (DH8C) and jet (A320) aircraft.Auckland-Christchurch-Wellington: The core trunk network, which saw jet aircraft scheduled for Friday operations.Regional Links to Hubs: Routes such as Invercargill-Christchurch (AT72), Rotorua-Auckland (DH8C), Woodbourne-Wellington (DH8C) and Kerikeri-Auckland (DH8C) were affected. These regional flights are critical for feeding passengers into the main hubs for domestic and international connections.Delays

Beyond the 18 outright cancellations by Air New Zealand, a significant backlog was created by the 80 recorded delays. This represented a 15% delay rate across the monitored flights, indicating that a substantial proportion of the operating schedule experienced a variance from the published timetable. The cumulative effect of numerous delayed flights, particularly in high-frequency morning slots, is expected to result in a cascading impact across the entire domestic network, affecting crew rotations, aircraft utilisation and passenger connection times throughout the day and into the following period.

Operational constraints were registered across ten airports spanning both the North and South Islands. The ten affected airports are:

Auckland International Airport (AKL / NZAA): AucklandWellington International Airport (WLG / NZWN): WellingtonChristchurch International Airport (CHC / NZCH): ChristchurchInvercargill Airport (IVC / NZNV): InvercargillRotorua Regional Airport (ROT / NZRO): RotoruaWoodbourne Airport (BHE / NZWB): BlenheimKerikeri Airport (KKE / NZKK): Kerikeri/Bay of IslandsTauranga Airport (TRG / NZTG): TaurangaNelson Airport (NSN / NZNS): NelsonHawke’s Bay Airport (NPE / NZNR): Napier/Hastings

The concentration of flight disruptions into key regional gateways such as Kerikeri, Rotorua, Tauranga, Nelson and Invercargill is anticipated to cause an immediate and potentially negative effect on local tourism economies. Domestic air travel forms a fundamental part of the visitor value chain in New Zealand, facilitating efficient access to regional attractions and scheduled tours. Cancellations and delays lead to the immediate loss of visitor arrivals, which subsequently translates to revenue losses for pre-booked services, including accommodation providers, tour operators and hospitality businesses. Given that many domestic itineraries are constructed on tight schedules, a significant lapse in air service reliability compromises the overall visitor experience and can negatively affect regional expenditure patterns.

Passengers whose travel plans have been compromised by a cancellation or delay are strongly advised to seek clarification on rebooking options. Under established aviation regulations, carriers are generally obliged to offer alternative travel arrangements to the final ticketed destination or provide a refund for the unused portion of the ticket if no reasonable alternative is accepted. Passengers are encouraged to retain all receipts for reasonable, proven expenses incurred as a direct result of a disruption within the airline’s control, as claims for damages may be considered up to ten times the cost of the ticket under applicable consumer and civil aviation law. Direct communication with the airline’s customer service channels or the use of their official mobile application is recommended for obtaining the most current flight status information and exploring alternative itinerary options.

-The information provided is sourced from FlightAware.