‘Like a seagull in a stiff breeze’: what it’s like flying into Wellington, the world’s windiest city

It had been a smooth late-July flight from Auckland, until the plane started its descent into Wellington. Then the bumps and swaying began.

“The more we went down, the rockier it got,” says Laura, a Wellington resident who wished to give her first name only. “There was one point where we must have got a horrible cross-wind and it felt like the plane was about to flip over. At that point, the entire flight screamed.”

“I genuinely felt like I was about to die, which was pretty awful … and I had eaten a horrible burger before going on the plane – that all came back up.”

The plane lurched back up into the sky. The pilot announced the weather was set to worsen and the plane returned to Auckland.

“We often call it a ‘Welly welcome’ when you get a bumpy landing, but this was a different level of scary, and obviously the pilots knew that because they didn’t land and didn’t try to do it again,” Laura says.

Anyone who has frequently flown into New Zealand’s capital has a story to tell.

Wellington is the world’s windiest city, with an annual average wind speed of 29km/h. The city sits on the Cook Strait, a passage between New Zealand’s North and South Islands, making it prone to high winds that can compound around the airport, which is flanked by hills.

This year’s “super” El Niño, a label assigned when sea surface temperatures climb by at least 2C, will be the strongest of the century, and that could intensify Wellington’s winds, as the city heads into spring – the windiest season.

“There were some El Niños in the past where it’s ended up being very windy in Wellington … so we expect it to be windier and more westerly than normal,” says Dr Richard Turner, a research meteorologist at Earth Sciences.

“I think those landings are probably going to be a little bit bumpy for the next few months.”

‘You think about your life a little bit as it comes down’

For many, the descent into Wellington can feel akin to sitting in a tiny boat as it’s thrown around on an angry sea. It is not uncommon to hear passengers gasping, praying or vomiting. Occasionally the plane might be metres from touchdown before suddenly and rapidly ascending back into the sky to reattempt a landing. When wheels do eventually reach the tarmac, and come to a strained halt, the cabin often breaks out in applause.

On particularly bad days, local TV crews will wait at the airport, ready to interview passengers who emerge from a plane looking haunted and pale. For more seasoned flyers, the notoriously bumpy ride is all part of the fun of flying into New Zealand’s capital.

“It’s like a rollercoaster, it’s a real adrenaline rush,” says Kevin Eagles, a Wellingtonian who has carved out an online following by livestreaming Wellington airport’s take-offs and landings.

“It’s well-known you really swirl about, you think about your life a little bit as it comes down, and then you’re slammed down on the tarmac and wait for the moment the reverse thrusters kick in and there is a big roar – you’re just holding on really.”

His videos of the choppy flights attract the highest number of views.

“You know what it’s like for those passengers in there to experience that and you feel empathy for them but at the same time it’s incredibly thrilling,” Eagles says.

On social media, people frequently relay their experiences flying into Wellington after another bumpy video emerges.

“That was me on that plane years ago trying to land like a seagull in a stiff breeze. Hyperventilating into the sick bag, while you could have heard a pin drop,” writes one commentator.

“Best pilots in the world. That bay landing is brutal,” says another.

An analysis by Earth Sciences New Zealand shows Wellington airport has a higher percentage of strong winds compared with other parts of the city, due to its exposed location on the South Coast. Strong gusts over 96km/h are relatively frequent there, it said.

“There tends to be a funnelling effect through the strait,” Turner says.

Wellington can be windy year-round, but spring tends to bring low pressure systems that can intensify gusts.

“The storms in the southern ocean barrel along and in front of them are these fronts that have these very strong pressure gradients at those times of the year,” Turner says.

But experienced Air New Zealand pilot captain Jake Snelgrove assures passengers the bumps are always more pronounced towards the back of the plane, and pilots are highly trained to deal with Wellington’s wind.

“We only go in there when we know it’s safe,” Snelgrove says. “You go in there with a lot of respect for Wellington and what the weather can do … and tend to make early, proactive decisions.”

Snelgrove says no Wellington weather would ever be strong enough to compromise the structural integrity of the plane, and pilots have a warning system that alerts them to wind shear – a phenomenon when two different wind speeds are interacting and creating a turbulent environment.

Where wind shear is present, pilots have a particular manoeuvre for the approach, or will conduct a go-around, to avoid landing.

“While it sometimes doesn’t feel comfortable, it is still safe,” he says, adding the pilots are usually having a more enjoyable day in windy situations than passengers because it is “challenging”.

Additionally, he says flights may be cancelled not because it is dangerous for the planes, but because airport staff are unable to move cargo or people if there is strong wind on the ground.

On the days where Wellington’s wind does settle, passengers are in for a remarkable journey, Eagles adds.

“Your anxiety is replaced by beautiful views,” he says. “You fly over Wellington city and you see the stadium and the harbour sparkling, and you think, wow.”