Four planes worth of travellers in Rarotonga are among 9000 Air New Zealand passengers needing to be rebooked on flights to Auckland.

The Airbus A321s and a diverted 787 Dreamliner were flying near full according to the airline, when they were held in the Cook Islands by closure of Auckland.

Rebecca Elias, a principal teacher for an Auckland School, was among those affected by this weekend’s disruption.

“We were on the first plane to get cancelled,” she said, trying to fly home this weekend.

Visiting the Cook Islands on behalf of the Dyslexia Society, she was also travelling with her niece and three young children, aged 11, 12 and 13. On Friday there was little warning of how bad the flooding was in Auckland until they were sent an automated message that their flight had been grounded and flights would be refunded as credit.

Elias says she has not had any communication with the airline since.

The Cook Islands’ reliance on Auckland as the main international air route serving the islands meant that knock on effects were particularly pronounced, limiting options for rebooking travel. With no available flights until Saturday, flight credit was little immediate help to passengers.

“There are no cheap options for food or accommodation. Simple groceries can cost up to three times more over here,” says Elias.

Teacher Rebecca Elias, third from right, was visiting the Cook Islands with a colleague, her niece and three young children. Photo / Rebecca Elias, Supplied

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There are also few accommodation options for stranded passengers who do not want to pay resort prices for extra nights in Rarotonga.

For those waiting to claim back expenses on travel insurance the cost of an unexpected stay in the Cook Islands is an unwelcome prospect.

One of their tickets “disappeared” from their booking and was not refunded as credit, requiring them to queue up at the Airport kiosk for hours.

“There was a line all the way down the street,” she said. With little access to Wi-Fi and expensive international dialling costs, trying to reach the airline’s call centre was a “waste of time.”

Elias says she was able to book six of the last seats on a JetStar service which will be arriving in Auckland on Wednesday, but knows many of the other passengers were not able to do so.

The principal teacher for the Summit Point School was due back for the first full day of school on Tuesday.

Adding to the confusion and number of stranded passengers in the Cook Islands, an Air New Zealand service NZ29 from Houston was diverted to Rarotonga on Friday. Air New Zealand says that the Boeing 787 continued to Auckland on Saturday Morning, but was not able to pick up additional passengers.

The airline’s chief of customer and sales, Leanne Geraghty, said that they were dealing with thousands of rebookings following the 37-hour window during which Auckland was shut to air traffic.

“We’ve sent a message to around 9,000 customers needing to be rebooked, with some reassurances that we’re working hard on it, and they can expect us to be in touch within the next 72 hours with an update,” she said.

Geraghty said that the airline would “provide accommodation as required for as many displaced customers as possible”.

Affected passengers who have arranged their own accommodation should email [email protected] with receipts, for which they will receive compensation of up to $250 per night.

Any passengers affected by the floods between 27 and 30 January, will have change fees or and fare differences waived on travel booked up to 28 February.

“Our teams are working incredibly hard to get customers rebooked as soon as possible,” she said.