A number of Air New Zealand flights to Pacific Island destinations have been forced to turn around because of aircraft issues.

At least three flights to the Cook Islands, Samoa and Fiji have been affected in the past two weeks.

This led to some passengers being stuck in Auckland for days as the airline worked to organise new flight arrangements.

Flight NZ946 from Auckland to Rarotonga on Sunday, March 29, was turned back less than an hour from the Cook Islands after an issue was discovered.

Passengers were told by the captain the issue could not be fixed in Rarotonga, so they needed to return to Auckland.

“I was on this flight. We had a malfunction with a speed reading device... [and] with no engineer or spare part in Rarotonga to fix once it landed,” one passenger posted on social media.

“So [we were] diverted back to Auckland. The entire flight’s passengers are now rebooked or being rebooked on flights ... up until as far as Saturday [April 4] due to seat availability.”

A problem also struck the NZ992 flight bound for Samoa the same day, which had to return to Auckland. It is understood passengers on board a flight destined for Fiji last week faced a similar situation.

An image from FlightRadar24 showing NZ946, bound for Rarotonga, heading back to Auckland.

A woman whose daughter, son-in-law and children were on the Samoa-bound flight said they had to wait for up to four hours before they were booked into a hotel room.

“Waiting in line for up to four hours and speaking to others in the queue, the underlying complaint has been the total lack of communication by the airline and scarcity of updates,” the woman told the Herald.

Air NZ chief operations officer for inflight and ground Kate Boyer said: “NZ946 to Rarotonga and NZ992 to Samoa both returned to Auckland on Sunday afternoon with separate engineering requirements.

“Both aircraft underwent inspections in Auckland and have returned to service. Customers have now been rebooked to travel.

“We apologise for the disruption to travel plans and appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding. The safety of our customers and crews is our utmost priority.”

Flight cancelled over ‘cabin odour’

The issue comes after several flights to Samoa were cancelled because of the ongoing international fuel crisis.

Meanwhile, an Air NZ flight from Melbourne to Auckland was cancelled on Sunday because of an odour in the cabin, passengers were told.

In an email sent to affected passengers, the airline said: “Regrettably, a cabin odour has been detected on board the aircraft scheduled to operate your service.

“As a precaution, the aircraft requires engineering attention and is no longer able to operate your flight today.”

Affected passengers were able to get accommodation and a $90 per person meal allowance.

A frustrated passenger said there was a “lack of timely communications” to customers.

“Both Melbourne and Auckland airports were a complete shambles,” the passenger said.

Vaimoana Mase is the Pasifika editor for the Herald’s Talanoa section, sharing stories from the Pacific community. She won junior reporter of the year at the then Qantas Media Awards in 2010 and won the best opinion writing award at the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.