Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Do flights Rarotonga-Auckland frequently get cancelled/delayed? Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Cook Islands
sofiamolsson 12:54 UTC 23 Nov 2011 | I have an international flight (back to Europe) out of Auckland and want to spend as long as possible on Cook Islands. Are the flights Rarotonga-Auckland frequently delayed or cancelled? Do I run the risk of missing my connection in Auckland if I cut it too short? i.e. do I have to leave Rarotonga 1-2 days before my intl flight? Time of travel is end of January. THANKS! |
h2ooh 19:31 UTC 23 Nov 2011 | Assuming your carrier is ANZ you have a very good chance of not having a flight delay due to non-weather reasons. However, you're right in the middle of the tropical storm season and a cyclone could delay a flight outbound of, or more likely, inbound to Rarotonga. They won't send a plane in unless there's a good chance of getting it off the ground for the flight out. Normally, but not always, you'll have 2 to 4-day notice of an impending storm. Occasionally they pop up with little or no notice. My advice is to plan on a one-flight buffer and lengthen it if a storm is lurking nearby. Or shorten it if your having a good time and things look favorable. If the you have the same carrier they are more likely to bail you out of a missed flight problem. I have found ANZ very accommodating in difficult situations like missed flights and weather delays. | 1
turou 00:26 UTC 24 Nov 2011 | Hi sofia, If Air NZ have to delay their flights, they will do their best to ensure you are placed on the next available flight out. But I suggest that you don't rely on Air NZ alone to get you onboard your connecting flight. Best to take out travel insurance that will cover you for this type of contingency. It'll be a small price to pay if anything untoward does eventuate. In my experience, Air NZ is highly reliable as an airline. I've only observed some minor delays with their flights between Rarotonga - Auckland - Rarotonga in recent times. Many of these delays aren't due to engineering services but to passengers themselves. One night in Feb 2011 we did have a hiccup while the airport authority requested a super-yacht to exit port since it was disrupting the nav aids around the wharf. But the captain made up for this delay during our flight. And there was the situation very recently where a disgraced sports-hero caused a departure delay, much to the chagrin of all other passengers. Have you now purchased tickets for a flight from Rarotonga to Auckland? If it's a star alliance partner with Air NZ, they are more helpful than if you had purchased an airline outside their membership - check here to see if your flight to Europe is a partner airline - http://www.staralliance.com/en/about/airlines/ | 2
sofiamolsson 18:30 UTC 24 Nov 2011 | Thank you! Also, I should had been more clear about the flights: my flight out of Auckland is not at all connected to Air NZ, it's on Cathay Pacific going Auckland-Hong Kong-London-Stockholm... One flight buffer sound like a good idea. And I do have travel insurance! It's more a matter of being sure to get back to Europe on time, as I have to be back by a certain date. | 3
turou 19:22 UTC 24 Nov 2011 | Incidentally, what is the airport transit time between your proposed flight from Rarotonga, and your pre-booked departure from Auckland? | 4
sofiamolsson 12:06 UTC 25 Nov 2011 | turou - My flight Auckland-Hong Kong leaves at 2.40pm in the afternoon. The flights with Pacific Blue/Virgin Australia get in at 04.30am. | 5