Air New Zealand says it is rebooking 10,000 international passengers affected by Cyclone Gabrielle as the worst of the storm is set to pass.

Auckland jet services will be back from mid-morning Tuesday, slightly earlier than anticipated. Domestic turboprop services will resume from mid-afternoon Tuesday.

After the cancellation of 509 flights, including disruption to its long-haul schedule, Air New Zealand says it predicts services will be safe to resume tomorrow.

The airline says that it has added additional services to help clear the backlog of disrupted passengers and get travellers home.

There are still 6,500 passengers needing to be rebooked.

“Customers are currently being rebooked onto the next available service to give them certainty they have a flight booked,” says chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty.

Having learned the lessons from the January floods, the airline says it will be looking to add capacity on its aircraft to minimise disruption to passenger journeys.

There will be 11 domestic services added into its schedule tomorrow along with upweighting aircraft to carry extra seats.

Strong winds: NZ1 from New York diverted to the Cook Islands ahead of cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / 123rf

NZ1 unscheduled stop in Rarotonga

Air New Zealand’s flagship New York route made a detour to the Cook Islands after pilots decided it was the safest course of action.

• Cyclone Gabrielle: Air New Zealand asks all passengers to reconsider travel
• Cyclone Gabrielle: Air NZ cancels all domestic flights to and from Auckland tomorrow; multiple international, regional services canned

After arriving at around 7.30am, it is now due to continue to Auckland from Rarotonga tomorrow morning.

The ultra-long-haul flight, which when it flies light will be able to offer seats to passengers in Rarotonga, was disrupted by the cyclone.

“We want to once again thank our customers for their patience while we work through the impact of another weather event that has meant a significant rebooking undertaking for the airline,” Geraghty said.

The airline advises disrupted passengers to contact their travel booking agents or use Air New Zealand’s online tools to reschedule cancelled flights.

Updates will be shared via their Travel Alerts page to help.