Auckland Airport shut until at least noon following flooding

Every morning when I wake I check flightradar24 to see if Brisbane will get any overflying aircraft to New Zealand or to see if anything unusual is coming into Brisbane. This morning I noticed Air New Zealand flight 90 from Tokyo to Auckland had diverted here. Then I see New Zealand 80 from Hong Kong diverted to Sydney and New Zealand 23 from Vancouver diverted to Christchurch. I noticed the daily Emirates turned back to Dubai, the American Airlines flight from Dallas also turned back and so on. So then I went investigating and found this story.

Auckland Airport will remain shut until at least midday Saturday due to flood damage sustained overnight and its effect on terminal infrastructure.

Photos from the airport last night showed the terminal full of water after Auckland was pummelled with torrential rain, causing chaos around the city and seeing a state of emergency declared.

Over 2000 travellers were stuck at the airport until the early hours of the morning, with flood waters having cut off roads in and around the airport area.

In a statement, Auckland Airport said flooding inside the international terminal check in area had cleared, and travellers were able to begin making their way home safely at around 3.30am.

"A number of passengers are still waiting airside at the international terminal, with Auckland Airport working with borders agencies to support them through formal border processing formalities, prior to them being able to depart from the terminal."

The airport said there would be no flights arriving or departing until at least noon as checks for flood damage were completed.

"Due to the damage overnight and the need to check key infrastructure, no domestic or international flights will be arriving or departing from Auckland Airport before noon Saturday, 28 January. This will continue to be reviewed as the weather event continues."