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WELLINGTON, New Zealand – The New Zealand-based national airline has admitted that a mistake in registration prevented a flight from reaching China this weekend, prompting Premier Jacinda Ardern to declare Monday that the policy was not in question.
She added that the incident had no impact on the relations between the two countries and that she would not seek to be rebadured on this point by the Chinese authorities.
"I see absolutely no need, since Air New Zealand has declared itself knowing exactly what the problem was – that it did not meet the requirements on the part of China" , she said.
Ardern added, "I think it's important to be very clear and not to confuse administrative and regulatory issues with those in the relationship."
Relations between China and New Zealand have been strained in recent months. In November, the New Zealand spy agency prevented the mobile phone company Spark from using the Huawei hardware as part of its 5G upgrade project. The agency said the equipment of the Chinese company posed "a significant risk to the security of the network".
Under the previous Conservative government, New Zealand had forged much closer ties with China. New Zealand was the first developed country to sign a free trade agreement with China in 2008, and China has since become New Zealand's largest trading partner.
But New Zealand is also part of the "Five Eyes" security alliance that includes the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia, who have also voiced their concerns about Huawei. And under Ardern, New Zealand has forged warmer relations with Japan.
Since taking office in 2017, Ardern has not yet made a long-promised official visit to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"Look, I have received an invitation from the Chinese administration to visit me," she said Monday. "The outstanding issue is simply a matter of setting dates, and these have not been finalized yet."
Air New Zealand flight 289 from Auckland to Shanghai took about four and a half hours or five hours on Sunday. A "technical problem" revealing that the plane was not registered in China, announced the airline. The flight returned to Auckland.
"We know that customers will be deeply disappointed and frustrated by this situation and we are sorry for the disruption of their travel plans," said the airline. "These customers have now arrived in Shanghai."
Air New Zealand did not immediately respond to other questions about the incident.
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