• Jetstar flights out of Auckland cancelled this morning after a global IT outage caused widespread disruption across New Zealand.
• Travellers report being stranded overnight in Wellington airport as families try to make it home on the last weekend of school holidays.

Two early-morning international Jetstar flights out of Auckland have been cancelled while travellers have reported being stranded at Wellington airport overnight after airlines and payment systems were among those hit by a global IT outage.

Auckland Airport has asked travellers and families trying to make it home over the last weekend of school holidays to allow extra time as the outage is affecting some airlines and payment systems.

Jetstar’s 6.15am Auckland to Sydney and 7am Auckland to Brisbane flights have both been cancelled, while a later 1.05pm Jetstar flight to Brisbane is still scheduled.

Flights run by Air NZ, Qantas and Singapore Airlines have all successfully departed this morning.

At Wellington airport, one Air NZ flight to New Plymouth scheduled for 8.20am was cancelled, however, an earlier Air NZ flight to Christchurch successfully departed.

Morning Jetstar flights from Wellington to Auckland and Christchurch are still scheduled to depart.

Auckland Airport said on its Facebook page it was operating as normal.

“But a global technology outage is continuing to impact some airlines and payment services,” it said.

“If you are travelling in the next couple of days please keep an eye on updates from your airline.

“All travellers should allow a little extra time as airport teams work to get you where you need to be this weekend.”

Jetstar NZ issued a statement at 12.15am saying its IT systems were “beginning to stabilise”.

The outage “impacted multiple Jetstar systems, including the system we use to communicate to customers”, the airline said.

“Flights on Saturday, July 20, are currently planned to operate as scheduled. Please proceed to the airport as usual.

“There may be a small number of flights impacted due to operational reasons. If your flight is impacted, we will communicate directly to you using the contact details on your booking.

“We’re continuing to offer flexibility for those customers who no longer wish to travel (free moves plus seven days or voucher refund). Please contact us via live chat to discuss your options.”

It apologised to travellers whose flights were cancelled between yesterday and 2am this morning, saying its teams are working on alternative flights for stranded passengers and will contact them as soon as possible.

One Herald reader wrote in saying they’d been stranded overnight at Wellington airport.

“This is very annoying, I’m so angry, been at the airport since 5pm yesterday, 13 hours,” the traveller said.

They claimed they hadn’t yet been rebooked on any other flights and hadn’t been offered compensation apart from a food voucher.

Another Facebook user wrote on Jetstar NZ’s site they arrived at the airport at 7pm yesterday for a 10.30pm flight “only to be told, ‘Ah, here’s a food voucher’”.

They said there was no warning email and that they only received a text at 11pm saying the flight had been cancellled.

They were also unable to try to rebook because the systems were down.

Another mum wrote she had been trying to rebook flights for four hours last night to get her teenage son, who was stranded by himself in Christchurch airport, home after his flight was delayed several times and then cancelled.

She said she had been getting left on hold and had no answers about whether she could get her son home.

Overseas airlines affected

• Berlin Airport temporarily halted all flights, a spokesperson told Reuters.
• Lufthansa’s Eurowings said it was halting domestic German flights as well as flights to and from Britain until 3pm local time.
• Spanish airport operator Aena reported a computer systems incident, while Lisbon airport, Portugal’s biggest, also experienced disruptions. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and Brussels Airport were also reportedly affected.
• Top Dutch airline KLM said it could not handle flights on Friday and had suspended most of its operations. Air France, KLM’s parent company, also said its operations were disrupted.
• Turkish Airlines was experiencing problems with ticketing, check-ins and booking, it said in a post on X. Budapest Airport said several airline check-in systems were out of operation.
• Major US carriers including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines halted flights on Friday morning, citing communication issues. American Airlines later said it had re-established operations. Frontier and Spirit cancelled directives to ground planes.
• Ryanair said it had cancelled a small number of flights.
• An SAS spokesperson said the Scandinavian airline was expecting delays.
• Qantas and Sydney Airport said planes were delayed but still flying.
• Swiss air traffic control company Skyguide said it had temporarily reduced Swiss air traffic capacity by 30%.
• Roughly 90% of flights at London Gatwick Airport and London Stansted Airport had been delayed or cancelled.
• Indian carriers including SpiceJet, Indigo, Akasa Air, Vistara, Air India and Air India Express were also experiencing problems on Friday.
• Philippines’ Cebu Air said it was facing technical issues and system downtime due to the Microsoft outage.

- with Reuters