(Reuters) – Air New Zealand said it intends to resume flight services from mid-afternoon on Tuesday, after a total of 592 flights had been impacted by cyclone Gabrielle.
Air New Zealand said in a statement it intends to start with resuming turboprop operations, but warned that strong high winds may pose some challenges.
In a separate statement the airline said it has canceled all domestic flights in and out of Auckland for the remainder of Tuesday.
“The strength and direction of winds at Auckland Airport are making it challenging to service aircraft, and it would be unsafe for our people to continue to operate in these conditions,” Air NZ said in a statement.
Cyclone Gabrielle is the second significant weather event to hit Auckland and the upper North Island in just a few weeks. Last month Auckland and surrounding areas were hit by record rainfall that sparked floods and killed four people.
(Reporting by Nausheen Thusoo and Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)