Airplanes have been a lot less common in the skies above New Zealand lately and even less common is seeing three of them flying at the same time.

On Wednesday Newshub was contacted by numerous people in Auckland wondering why three mysterious 'military looking' aircraft were circling the city.

There were even more sightings on Thursday morning.

One reader managed to get a photo of the airborne trio from a distance. It wasn't quite possible to 100 percent correctly identify the aircraft, but it was obvious they were military and not commercial.

Now we can put an end to the mystery. 

The New Zealand Defence Force has confirmed to Newshub that the RNZAF has been practising for the Wings Over Wairarapa Air Festival, which takes place this weekend.

"The aircraft involved were a P-3K2 Orion, a C-130H Hercules and a Boeing 757," an NZDF spokesperson said.

The trio are collectively known as 'Formation Thunder'.