Air New Zealand passengers forced to sit through nine-hour flight only for it to return to Auckland

Passengers on board an Air New Zealand flight have had to endure a nine-hour journey to nowhere after the plane bound for Shanghai was forced to return to Auckland.

Flight NZ289, left Auckland on Monday night but turned around near the Solomon Islands just four-and-half hours into the 12-hour journey.

It landed back in Auckland at about 8.30am on Tuesday.

Air New Zealand chief operating officer Alex Marren told 7NEWS.com.au the flight’s return was a “proactive safety measure” that was carried out due to one of the plane’s engines using more fuel than normal.

7NEWS.com.au understands the plane returned to Auckland to be serviced, as the airline does not have full engineering capabilities in Shanghai.

“The decision was made to return to Auckland so the aircraft could be checked by our engineering team here to expedite repair,” Marren said.

“The aircraft arrived in Auckland at 8:36am this morning and customers will be accommodated on the next available service.

“We’d like to thank customers for their patience and understanding while our teams work through the rebooking process.”

The engine issue comes off the back of another incident involving Air New Zealand last month.

Two people were injured on a flight from Wellington to Queenstown by severe turbulence on June 16.

A passenger reportedly suffered burns from a pot of hot coffee and a crew member was thrown from her feet about 15 minutes after take-off.

Air New Zealand said “clear-air turbulence” was to blame.