Disruptive passenger forces Air New Zealand flight bound for Auckland to divert to Melbourne

File: An Air New Zealand passenger plane takes off from Christchurch Airport in New Zealand, on 16 March 2020 - (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

An Air New Zealand flight bound for Auckland, New Zealand, from Perth, Australia, was forced to divert on Wednesday morning after a passenger became disruptive, the airline said.

The flight landed instead in the Australian city of Melbourne, where police officers awaited the aircraft. The flight continued to Auckland after a 90-minute delay, Air New Zealand said in a statement.