Fog continues to disrupt flights at Wellington Airport

Thick fog at Wellington Airport is disrupting flights in and out of the capital on Tuesday evening.

Flights into Wellington from around the country have been unable to land, with some returning to their destinations due to the weather. One flight was diverted to Palmerston North.

Several departures have been cancelled and a number of Sounds Air flights have been delayed.

Conditions appeared to ease enough for some flights to land around 7pm, but that did not last, and by 8pm there were more cancellations.Passengers should keep an eye on live flight information and contact their airline with any questions, Wellington Airport spokeswoman Jenna Raeburn said.

Metservice meterologist Alwyn Bakker said the misty conditions seen earlier in the evening had developed into fog.

“It is fog, we’ve got visibility at 400 metres currently.”

Some flights have been unable to land at Wellington Airport as a thick fog surrounds the city’s southern suburbs.
KEVIN STENT/STUFF
Some flights have been unable to land at Wellington Airport as a thick fog surrounds the city’s southern suburbs.
The damp conditions would continue overnight, Bakker said.

“It’s going to be quite mucky, there is no visibility, it is very damp and generally very unpleasant.”

Earlier, Metservice forecaster Tuporo Marsters​ said the overcast conditions were affecting all the southern suburbs around Wellington, and extending into parts of Johnsonville and Karori.“Visibility is down to 5000 metres.

If it were to go down to 1000, then we go straight to fog, and that will be causing delays at the airport.”

The low cloud was forecast to develop into fog and continue into the evening, with some rain and light drizzle arriving later on, Marsters said.