Passengers on a Qantas flight from Melbourne, Australia, are stuck on the tarmac at Ohakea air base, after the plane was diverted from Wellington.

Flight QF171 was due to land in the capital around 2.35pm, before its landing was aborted and it was sent to Ohakea, near Palmerston North.

"QF171 couldn't land in Wellington because of the, well, weather, and then it developed a problem with the flaps. Even so, the pilot did a good job landing at Ohakea," one passenger told Stuff.

It was "boiling" inside the plane, the passenger said.

Another passenger said "we have been told we have to wait till 7pm to get off the plane".

"No aircon and it is very very hot on the plane!"

"Then we still don't know how we are getting to Wellington.

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"No aircon and it is very very hot on the plane!" they said.

Since landing, passengers have complained on social media about being stuck.

"Awkward when your international flight gets diverted to an air base, and they can't let you off the plane because there's no customs," one passenger wrote on Twitter.

"Can't leave plane because no customs, can't fly plane as broken, can't get replacement plane (easily at least) as at air base. A difficult problem to solve @Qantas!"

Another person claiming to be on the flight said passengers were "sitting on the tarmac in the sun, getting extremely hot in the plane".

At 6pm, the plane was sitting by itself on the tarmac. There were steps attached to the front of the plane, but no one could be seen using them. 

There was thick cloud in the sky and there was strong wind.