THE NAME THING: An Air New Zealand airplane en route to Shanghai turned around mid-flight ‘on its own’ because its paperwork referred to Taiwan, a Chinese official said
Taipei Times
Date: Feb 13, 2019
By: Bloomberg
An Air New Zealand flight on its way to Shanghai was forced to return to Auckland after
Passengers board an Air New Zealand flight at Christchurch International Airport on Sept. 20, 2017. Photo: AP
several hours in the air on Saturday because paperwork for the flight included a reference to Taiwan, news Web site Stuff reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The problem related to documentation from the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority that was included as part of Air New Zealand’s application to allow the aircraft to land in China, the report said.
Beijing officials had warned the airline to remove any references that suggested Taiwan was a country, but the issue was not resolved, the report said.
In an e-mailed statement, the carrier said that a Boeing Co 787-9 Dreamliner that entered its fleet late last year and was not yet certified to fly to China was “unfortunately assigned” for the Shanghai flight.
