The power failure at Auckland airport could have been caused by lightning strikes

Lightning strikes could be to blame for a major outage on Auckland Airport’s runway lights.

17 international and domestic flights were diverted to other airports, when the lights failed last night. Airways corporation spokeswoman, Nikki Hawkey, says the fault was fixed in time for early morning flights.

She says the cause is being looked into, but it’s happened twice before at Auckland Airport. “We know… that the amount of cabling at the airport is attractive to lightning” she told Newstalk ZB, and the damage could have built up over time.

Ms Hawkey says they’re working with all the airlines to clear a backlog of passengers, some 300 had to spend the night in Christchurch after being diverted, while others were taken to Hamilton and will be bussed to Auckland.

Some people who checked in for long hauls to the US and Asia won’t get away until late this afternoon.
 

– NewstalkZB

– Image / WeatherWatch.co.nz