The woman said her husband was told by staff at the gate the Queenstown flight had departed early, leaving three connecting passengers behind.
A spokesperson for Air New Zealand confirmed the flight “left slightly early” after boarding had closed because of runway availability and air traffic control requirements.
The passenger’s wife, who worked for five years as an inflight service manager for the airline, said staff were instructed to hold flights for passengers on Air New Zealand-operated connections when delays were caused by the airline.
She believes the 10pm curfew at Queenstown Airport still left enough time for the passengers to board without delaying the flight beyond its scheduled departure or arrival.
“He would have made it in time as well as the other two people that he was running to the gate with, and they would have made it well within the Queenstown curfew.”
While her husband and the other passengers had been put up in a hotel for the night and given a $90 food voucher, she said the disruption had affected the family’s weekend plans.
“It’s just frustrating. It put things on hold for us,” she said.
“And the fact that the option was him getting up at 4.30 in the morning and getting himself to the airport for 5.15 to make this 6am flight, it’s not really a viable option.”
Air New Zealand general manager customer care Alisha Armstrong said Flight NZ448 had arrived 20 minutes behind schedule, by which time boarding for the flight to Queenstown had closed.
“We always do our best to help customers make their connections where operationally possible, however, we can’t always hold onward flights.
“On this occasion, once boarding had closed, the aircraft was required to depart as soon as reasonably possible due to runway availability and air traffic control requirements.”
Armstrong reiterated that the airline had made arrangements and offered assistance to the affected passengers in line with its customer care commitments.
“We know it’s frustrating when travel doesn’t go to plan, and we sincerely apologise for the disruption to our customer’s journey.
“We appreciate this was a disappointing experience for those affected, and we’re sorry for the disruption to their travel plans.”