Some of the passengers spent close to 10 hours at the airport after a 10.25am flight bound for Wellington was cancelled after its incoming sister flight was unable to land because of low cloud.
Some of those booked on the flight north were accommodated on a service to Christchurch, which was cancelled for the same reason and some did not leave for the capital until 7.15 last night.
There are delays for some passengers again this morning, owing to fog at Auckland Airport. (Check Dunedin Airport's website here)
Tensions were high on the flight from Wellington which attempted to land in Dunedin.
The pilot attempted three ''terrifying'' landings before returning to the capital about 10.30am, passenger Steve Walker, the West Harbour community board chairman, said.
''It was very disconcerting especially on the third attempt, by which time I was over it,'' Mr Walker said.
''The pilot was very calm and gave out excellent information related to what was going to occur if we had to accelerate once we were near the ground.
''He was quite concerned about the amount of fuel the plane was carrying which it seems dictated his decision to return to Wellington - the closest guaranteed safe option.
''People were generally pretty calm, at least outwardly but you could feel the tension increasing after the third attempt.
''I'm a nervous flier at the best of times, so anything anomalous generally freaks me out.
He praised the pilot and crew ''for their calming attitudes and regular information updates''.
Mr Walker missed two meetings and a portion of yesterday's community board meeting as a result of the aborted flight.
Tania Scoles and her 11-year-old son, Macy, left their Gore home at 7.30am to fly to Wellington from Dunedin, only to be affected by the two cancelled flights.
The pair finally left for Wellington at 7.15pm after almost 10 hours at the airport.
Macy is competing in a national ballroom dancing competition this weekend.
''It's not a good start [to the weekend],'' Ms Scoles said.
''We can't control it, so we have just got to go with it.''
An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said two services from Dunedin - NZ682 to Wellington and NZ5750 to Christchurch - were cancelled after the inbound aircraft were unable to land as a result of low cloud at Dunedin Airport.
''Around 130 customers are being accommodated on alternate services,'' she said.
