A New Zealand-bound flight that departed from Dubai on Friday morning spent more than 13 hours in the air before finally making its landing. The only problem was it landed at the same airport it took off.
Emirates flight EK448 departed from Dubai at 10:30 a.m. local time before making it halfway through the almost 9,000-mile trip when the pilot was forced to turn around. On Saturday, just after midnight, the flight landed back in Dubai, finishing the sudden round-trip, according to FlightAware.
The flight was forced to turn back after the Auckland Airport in New Zealand, where the plane was traveling, had to close due to severe weather and flooding.
The airport shared a statement, saying that it has “been assessing the damage to our international terminal and unfortunately determined that no international flights can operate today.”
On Saturday night local time in New Zealand, the airport said it would be able to resume international flights starting Sunday morning.
The airline shared a statement with Business Insider about the flight, saying they “regret the inconvenience caused to customers. Emirates will continue to monitor the situation in Auckland and issue updates where required.”
The flight was eventually rescheduled after passengers returned to Dubai. It was scheduled to depart for the second time on Saturday, Dubai time and was due to arrive in New Zealand on Sunday afternoon local time.
Carrie Hurihanganui, the chief executive for Auckland Airport, shared a statement following the decision to shut down the airport. In it, she stressed safety as the top priority.
“This has been a significant event that has put our city into a state of emergency, and certainly the airport has never been tested in this way before,” Hurihanganui said in the statement. “But the delay to reopening is necessary to ensure travelers’ safety.”
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