One of the World's Longest Flight Routes Has a Major Wind Problem

One of the world's longest flights is being disrupted by strong winds, forcing Air New Zealand to reduce passengers and luggage in order to take on more fuel

The new non-stop service from New York to New Zealand is the fourth longest in the world. Within a week of opening the route, the airline found its modeling hadn't accounted for the strong winds.

Morgan said that seasonal winds in North America have been higher. In order to be able to provide the fuel load, we have had to reduce the payload.

The airline had to let go of as many as 65 passengers at John F. Kennedy airport in order to cut weight. A third flight was going to have to make a stop for fuel but was able to get to New Zealand.

The tourism industry in New Zealand has been decimated by the absence of foreign visitors due to the H1N1 swine flu. The US used to be the third largest source of foreign arrivals, with 370,000 Americans spending more than NZ$ 1.5 billion on vacations in 2019.

Air New Zealand can carry a maximum of 260 passengers northward to New York. He said that the return leg capacity had been reduced to 180 passengers because of the winds.