The Air New Zealand service between Tonga's Fua'amotu International Airport, and Auckland this morning was disrupted because of power stoppage to some parts of eastern Tongatapu, including the Fua'’amotu International Airport terminal .

The Acting Secretary for the Ministry of Civil Aviation said that power supply was off from 10 pm until 3 pm this afternoon. He said that their stand-by generator supplied power to the control tower and the runway, but unfortunately their stand-by generator to the terminal was out of action and therefore it was impossible for departing passengers and cargoes to be checked in.

Because of the power disruption the Air New Zealand flight that arrived at 1 am left at 2.15 pm without taking on any passengers or cargo from Tonga.

This is a busy time of the year for Tonga as holiday-makers and Tongan students are returning overseas. There is another Air New Zealand flight tonight at 12 midnight, but there has been no announcement of extra flights to pick up the stranded passengers.