Emirates flight affected by New Zealand fuel crisis

Emirates has been forced to re-route its direct service from Auckland to Dubai due to an ongoing jet fuel shortage in New Zealand.

The fuel shortage, caused by a damaged pipeline to Auckland Airport, has caused widespread disruption to air travel over the past week, with dozens of domestic and international flights cancelled.

Emirates said it would be adding a stopover in Melbourne for refuelling on flight EK449 from Auckland to Dubai until September 24.

The 14,200km flight, which has been operating since March 2016, is the second-longest non-stop service in the world, after Qatar Airways’ flight from Auckland to Doha.

While passengers will not be required to disembark in Melbourne, the stopover is expected to add two hours to the 17-hour flight time.

The re-rerouted flight will depart Auckland at 8.30pm and land in Dubai at 8.30am.

Emirates said passengers with onward connections during this time should contact their travel agent or local Emirates office.

New Zealand’s air traffic control provider Airways said on its website on Tuesday it was implementing fuel conservation measures to help alleviate the impact of the fuel shortage, and up to 10 days of disruption to passengers was expected.

A spokesman for New Zealand Refining told Reuters the pipeline was closed for repairs and was expected to return to 70 per cent capacity by September 24 to 26.

Read: Top 10 longest flights in the world