Above: Auckland skyline during better times.
My flight cancelled
I woke at 0600 to learn that my flight 1105 flight to Singapore had been cancelled. Not unsurprising as a result of the flood inside the airport terminal.
I quickly shifted my booking to tomorrow before other people could do the same. As I had been forced to upgrade to a flexi ticket yesterday, there was no fee to pay and fortunately no fare difference either. Soon after, the flight was completely sold out.
Story from airside
I heard from a friend Yi who had been flying to Sydney on AirAsia X yesterday evening. He was on board the aircraft already when the airport closed temporarily due to an Air New Zealand plane damaging the runway lights landing in heavy weather.
They were kept on board pending the airport reopening. However, the weather got worse and the airport closed when water flooded the check-in area and arrival hall.
They disembarked and were kept airside for the night along with many passengers who were already airside. As arrival processing was flooded, they weren’t allowed to leave airside to go home.
He paid to sleep in the lounge whereas many people just found a spot on the floor.
I reassured him that he was possibly on the best flight. He was already airside, the crew who had to unexpectedly overnight here had to get back to Sydney and Kuala Lumpur together with the plane.
Knowing how airlines work, Air New Zealand would probably cancel several complete Auckland – Sydney – Auckland rotation due to problem with the airport facilities.
Sure enough, this morning, all the passengers airside were asked to leave, except those flying AirAsia X.
It turned out that they were the only Sydney-bound flight that departed today. Perhaps they were the only flight that departed as the airport as it was still officially closed.
It’s funny that the airline with the worst reputation became the best for the day.
On edge for the day
Through the day, I checked the departures page of Air New Zealand and Auckland Airport. Flights were progressively being cancelled for tomorrow. My Singapore flight seemed to be a rare exception and that continued till bed time.
It was stressful monitoring that but I distracted myself with fixing things due to the flood at a rental property and making dinner.