On Track
13th Jul 2011, 08:23
Arrived at Auckland at 5.05 on Sunday morning, after a superb flight with Air NZ on the 777 from Vancouver.
No queue for immigration -- everything was going very smoothly until the baggage collection.
Waited and waited and waited for bags to appear -- not just my bags -- any bags.
Finally, at 6.35 my bag (which had a priority label) turned up on the conveyor.
Then, because of the huge backlog of passengers, took 15 minutes to get through customs who had largely given up trying to do the job they're supposed to be doing.
Eventually got to the domestic transfer desk where I was told they wouldn't do anything for me because my connecting flight was scheduled to leave in less than 60 minutes.
Ran over to domestic terminal to drop the bag off (as I already had boarding pass) and found that the flight to Queenstown was delayed by an hour (8.10 instead of 7.10). Just as well, otherwise I would have missed it.
Went through security and along with dozens of others waited at the gate for boarding. No sign of any airline personnel nearby.
Eventually airline employee turns up and asks if any PA announcements have been heard at the gate. Negative. Well, he says, your flight is cancelled and you have to go back the way you came to get your bags.
I have a few questions:
1. How can Air NZ possibly justify taking well over an hour to get any of the bags off the aircraft and onto the conveyor belt?
2. Why was there no apology, let alone an explanation, for this extraordinary delay?
3. What is the point of having a domestic transfer desk if it can't cope with departures occurring within the next 60 minutes?
4. Why did the domestic transfer desk not know that my flight had been rescheduled?
5. Why did PA announcements not reach the passengers waiting at the gate in the domestic terminal? Apparently they were broadcast only to those who hadn't yet gone through security.
6. Why is Auckland airport such a ****hole? I haven't been in such a miserable, outdated, congested, rundown, gloomy, grotty place in a long time. I will be doing everything possible to avoid it in future. It's quite depressing after passing through the likes of Bangkok, Frankfurt and Vancouver in the preceding days and weeks. When you arrive at Auckland you really do feel that you've reached the arse end of the earth.
No queue for immigration -- everything was going very smoothly until the baggage collection.
Waited and waited and waited for bags to appear -- not just my bags -- any bags.
Finally, at 6.35 my bag (which had a priority label) turned up on the conveyor.
Then, because of the huge backlog of passengers, took 15 minutes to get through customs who had largely given up trying to do the job they're supposed to be doing.
Eventually got to the domestic transfer desk where I was told they wouldn't do anything for me because my connecting flight was scheduled to leave in less than 60 minutes.
Ran over to domestic terminal to drop the bag off (as I already had boarding pass) and found that the flight to Queenstown was delayed by an hour (8.10 instead of 7.10). Just as well, otherwise I would have missed it.
Went through security and along with dozens of others waited at the gate for boarding. No sign of any airline personnel nearby.
Eventually airline employee turns up and asks if any PA announcements have been heard at the gate. Negative. Well, he says, your flight is cancelled and you have to go back the way you came to get your bags.
I have a few questions:
1. How can Air NZ possibly justify taking well over an hour to get any of the bags off the aircraft and onto the conveyor belt?
2. Why was there no apology, let alone an explanation, for this extraordinary delay?
3. What is the point of having a domestic transfer desk if it can't cope with departures occurring within the next 60 minutes?
4. Why did the domestic transfer desk not know that my flight had been rescheduled?
5. Why did PA announcements not reach the passengers waiting at the gate in the domestic terminal? Apparently they were broadcast only to those who hadn't yet gone through security.
6. Why is Auckland airport such a ****hole? I haven't been in such a miserable, outdated, congested, rundown, gloomy, grotty place in a long time. I will be doing everything possible to avoid it in future. It's quite depressing after passing through the likes of Bangkok, Frankfurt and Vancouver in the preceding days and weeks. When you arrive at Auckland you really do feel that you've reached the arse end of the earth.