Air NZ passengers forced to sleep on floor of Tokyo Narita airport after flight cancelled

  • 23/01/2018
An Air New Zealand airplane.
An Air New Zealand airplane. Photo credit: File

Passengers of Air NZ flight NZ90 from Tokyo to Auckland say they have been left stranded after their flight was cancelled due inclement weather.

The flight was supposed to leave at 6:30pm on Monday evening (local time) but was cancelled after passengers had boarded the plane.

An anonymous passenger told NZME that travellers were left on the plane for seven hours before being asked to leave the plane and the terminal.

"They booted us out of the terminal and we had to clear customs and collect our luggage," he said.

"They refused to even give us meal vouchers and refused to re-book us. Pretty much we're on our own."

Another passenger, Jen Hoolihan, told Stuff the lack of communication from the airline was "pathetic".

"People get stranded all the time. What makes this an issue is the complete lack of communication from Air NZ for six hours as we sat confused in an airport," she said.

"The only saving grace from this is the community spirit with those on the plane, sharing food and blankets and sitting in this hopeless feeling together."

In a statement, Air New Zealand said the flight was not the only one affected by the weather and is now expected to depart at 6:30pm (local time) on Tuesday evening.

"Very heavy snow conditions in Tokyo have impacted hundreds of services at Narita Airport, including last night's NZ90 service to Auckland," a spokesperson said.

"Given the scale of the disrupt, the aircraft operating this service was initially significantly delayed due to a lengthy wait for de-icing equipment before Narita Airport closed.

"While onboard, customers had access to inflight entertainment and were served a meal."

Newshub.