A Virgin flight departing Queenstown had to divert to Christchurch on Monday evening, forcing passengers to find their own accommodation.
Some passengers are still stranded in Christchurch and will be unable to return on a Virgin flight to Brisbane until Wednesday.
Virgin Australia has had troubles in Queenstown before.Credit: iStock
Flight VA116 from Queenstown to Brisbane was redirected to Christchurch, where it landed safely on Monday night.
The cause was “an engineering issue”, a Virgin spokesperson said.
One passenger told this masthead that after passengers disembarked, they were moved to the air-bridge to wait as the plane was checked.
When the plane couldn’t be started, they were sent back into the terminal, he said.
“An entire plane load of people had to find their own accommodation and rebook their own way back to Brisbane,” the passenger said.
Virgin has no staff or counter at Christchurch.
Christchurch Airport workers reportedly assisted the passengers.
