A lightning strike very close to Wellington Airport took out runway lights on Wednesday night.

Passengers stranded at Wellington Airport after a lightning strike discovered an uncomfortable truth: airline customers in New Zealand have precious few consumer rights.

The lightning strike took out runway lights for 45 minutes on Wednesday night. Several flights were cancelled or delayed, leaving about 120 passengers stuck at the airport overnight.

Some complained of a lack of assistance, no access to airport lounges, and few food and accommodation options.

THOMAS MANCH/STUFF Karon and Andrew Long, whose flight to Brisbane was delayed, were hunkered down with little more than light blankets, while construction workers banged and buzzed around them.

In the European Union, law dictates that airlines provide refreshments, food, accommodation, and two telephone calls when flights are delayed.

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But there is little that airlines in New Zealand have to offer once passengers have checked in and their flights are delayed by an "act of God", according to independent aviation consultant Irene King.

AMBER-LEIGH WOOLF/STUFF Stranded passengers continue to wait for on Thursday morning, after the previous night's delays and cancellations.

"It's good customer service practice to provide vouchers. I'm not certain there's anything in law, certainly not in New Zealand law."

An airline's obligations in the case of an overnight delay were also minimal, King said.​

"It depends on what the circumstances are for the delay. In general, good customer service says they will attempt to try and find you a bed overnight."

AMBER-LEIGH WOOLF Barbara McGarva, from Wollongong, awaits her flight after a disrupted night.

Karen Long, whose Virgin Australia flight to Brisbane with husband Andrew and her two children had already been delayed long before the runway lights went out, said there there was a lack of interest from the airline in how people were faring.

It gave them each with an $8 voucher, and no further assistance. The vouchers were spent on cups of tea after waiting in line with 50 others.

Airport staff handed out blankets, and took some passengers to Air New Zealand's Koru lounge.

THOMAS MANCH/STUFF A few stranded passengers wait in a cold and loud Wellington Airport terminal as the flight board shows the few departures and arrivals.

A couple from Boston, United States, on their honeymoon to New Zealand, were offered a $200 voucher for accommodation on Wednesday night, but Wellington hotels appeared to be fully booked.

The couple, who did not want to be named, said they were not offered a lounge to sleep in.

Barbara McGarva, from Wollongong, said staff had not done a good job of assisting people, and seemed "under the pump".

She was led to gate 16 with other passengers, where they were told they could sleep on chairs or the floor. They were woken at 3.45am because the gate was being prepared for a flight.

Wellington Airport spokesman Greg Thomas said the airport went "above and beyond" for the passengers who stayed in the airport overnight.

"There are airports around the world that don't allow passengers to sleep in their terminal at all overnight."

He pointed out that access to lounges was controlled by individual airlines, not the airport.

King concurred that an airport's duty of care went as far as ensuring it was operational.

"The passengers are not their customers. Even though they're using their facilities, the airports haven't got any remuneration from the passenger."

She believed New Zealand was "off the pace" with comparable countries when it came to consumer law for air passengers.

"If you start regulating, then people start doing the minimum required by the regulation. Both airlines and airports in New Zealand do more than what's required, but short of what most passengers probably would like."

House of Travel commercial head Brent Thomas agreed such consumer law ought to be tabled, but warned it could affect prices.

"Invariably there's a cost to these things, and invariably a cost would be reflected in ticket pricing as well."

He said airlines generally looked after customers well.

"If they are the cause of the problem, then they need to rectify it. But when it is out of their hands, it comes down to how they want to respond.

"All we can ever ask for is that the airlines keep the people as best informed as they can."