The Ministry of Transport has confirmed Australian airline Skytraders, which transported 12 New Zealand deportees from Christmas Island, illegally landed in Auckland.
The charter plane on Christmas Island waiting to take detainees to New Zealand. Photo: RNZ / John Campbell
The deportees arrived, wearing handcuffs, on the charter flight on 19 November.
In a statement, a ministry spokesperson said the airline did not seek prior approval to land from the ministry, as it should have under the Civil Aviation Act.
It said, when it became aware of the flight, the ministry contacted Skytraders and reminded it about getting approval for non-scheduled flights.
The ministry said, however, it was confident the flight met all safety and security requirements.
No permission was needed from the Civil Aviation Authority nor was it concerned about that particular flight.
Another 11 deportees from Australia arrived in Auckland Airport last week.