New Zealand-bound plane turns back to Dubai after 13-hour flight to nowhere

Currently, many strange incidents related to air travel are making the news. Ever since people started travelling again, all kinds of absurd things have been happening aboard airplanes. Here is such an incident added to the list of strange news, local media reported.

Passengers on an Emirates flight bound for Auckland, New Zealand that left Dubai on Friday morning ended up landing at the same airport it took off from just over 13 hours later.

Flight EK448 departed Dubai International Airport at around 10.30 am on Friday, but was forced to turn back about halfway through its 8,824-mile journey due to the closure of Auckland Airport due to flooding.

The flight tracking website FlightRadar24 revealed that the pilot turned the plane around halfway and returned to Dubai after more than 13 hours in the air.

Not the longest flight in the world anymore, but this Dubai-Auckland flight probably feels like it today. With Auckland Airport closed due to flooding, Emirates decided to return to Dubai. Looking about a 13.5 hour flight from Dubai to Dubai. https://t.co/nMvFA5Wa9y pic.twitter.com/kZy29zzlbu

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 27, 2023

“Auckland Airport has been assessing the damage to our international terminal and unfortunately determined that no international flights can operate today,” the airport said in a statement on Saturday afternoon.

“We know this is extremely frustrating but the safety of passengers is our top priority,” Auckland Airport added.

Auckland Airport has been assessing the damage to our international terminal and unfortunately determined that no international flights can operate today. We know this is extremely frustrating but the safety of passengers is our top priority.

— Auckland Airport (@AKL_Airport) January 28, 2023

Travellers from Dubai were unfortunately not the only ones to end up where they started as another plane leaving Dallas-Fort Worth in the US for New Zealand turned back after a 10-hour flight to nowhere.

Auckland International Airport pic.twitter.com/tTqwlGa0zh

— Oilinki (@oilinki) January 27, 2023

Auckland International Airport closed its domestic and international terminals on Friday after heavy rain caused widespread chaos and triggered a local state of emergency.

Some Emirates passengers have expressed concern about the airline’s rebooking process via social media.

Due to the flooding in #Auckland our @emirates flight today was cancelled. We were initially rebooked to a flight on 29 January at 16:50, that flight has been canceled and @emirates has now booked us to departure on 7 February. #totallyunacceptable

— Nancy Schepers (@Schepers_Nancy) January 28, 2023

According to the airport’s website, no international flights will be allowed to arrive until at least 7 am local time on Sunday. Domestic arrivals and departures will be allowed from 12:00. local time on Saturday

The Emirates flight was finally rescheduled and took off from Dubai for a second time on Sunday 29 January. It landed safely in New Zealand on Monday after completing a 16-hour journey – the airline’s longest commercial route.