NZ to airlift Aussies from Wuhan, China

Dozens of Australians will be on the Air New Zealand flight chartered by the Kiwi government to bring its citizens home from Wuhan, but it's unclear just how they will be quarantined on arrival.

On Tuesday night, New Zealand hopes to follow Australia and a string of other countries in repatriating Kiwis stuck in the Chinese city during the coronavirus outbreak.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the plane was waiting at Hong Kong airport, where health professionals and government officials readied it for the long haul trip to Auckland.

Around 100 New Zealanders will be joined by around 50 Australians - and perhaps more - seeking for a route from the Hubei province, as well as some from Pacific Islands.

Final numbers won't be locked in until the plane's manifest is confirmed just prior to the flight.

NZ prime minister Jacinda Ardern, who has temporarily banned all commercial flights from China during the crisis, said she had been working with China and Australia on the mission.

"They have to go through a clearance process at the border in China to make sure that anyone displaying symptoms doesn't board the flight," she said.

Once on home soil, the Kiwis will be taken to Whangaparaoa, a navy training facility on a stunning piece of coastline just 30 minutes north of Auckland.

While it was mooted the Australians would undergo their quarantine there, Ardern said on Tuesday, "They won't be joining us".

"My understanding is that Australia will be then taking the public health responsibility for those that will eventually be in Australia," she said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is yet to outline their quarantine plans.

Australians which took their own government's chartered Qantas plane out of Wuhan are now on Christmas Island, where they will spend a fortnight in quarantine.

It remains to be seen whether the Auckland-bound Australians will take a marathon series of flights to join them on the tiny island - which is much closer to China than New Zealand.

Ardern is holding firm to a proposal to retain the $500 ($A483) charge to board the plane.

"It has been a significant exercise to get (everyone) home and these would be people paying for a return flight anyway," she said.

"It's a small way to contribute to cost recovery ... it's definitely not covering the full cost."

NZ opposition leader Simon Bridges called for the fee to be scrapped after Australian prime minister Scott Morrison moved to waive a proposed $1000 levy to board their chartered Qantas flight home on Monday.

© AAP 2020