A British Airways flight took nine hours and dropped passengers off right where they started. It’s not the first time something like this happened.
You might mean we ’re talking about the travel style that became viral during the pandemic . You have a go at it , the one whereairlineswere actually offering ( and selling out ! ) flights to nowhere , where people were embarkment and taking off from one spot , doing a little merry - go - round , and landing in the same home . They were sightseeing flight , and travelers booked those ASAP if it meant getting out of the house and onto a plane .
Theflightsto nowhere we are talking about now are n’t intentional . Just last week , a British Airways commercial sheet was on its room from London to the Texas metropolis of Houston , but just as it crossed the Atlantic Ocean and almost approached the coast ( five hour into its journey ) , it was force to become and go back to London , Fox Businessreports . It was , in fact , a nine - hr - recollective flight to nowhere .
" The flight returned to London Heathrow as a forethought due to a small-scale technical take , " a spokesperson told Fox Business . " It put down safely and customers disembarked as normal . "
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Reportedly , the 300 passenger were give hotel accommodations and booked onto another flight at no additional cost . Still , this would give any traveler a major vexation . disregarding of how well-off your seat is , abide nine hour on a plane for nothing is a good deal .
Yet , this is something that occur more often than one might imagine . In January 2023 , an Emirates flying head from Dubai to Auckland , New Zealand had to change by reversal back halfway through its 8,824 - air mile journey , Business Insiderreported . In total , passenger spend 13 hours in the air because of significant implosion therapy and storms at the original goal of Auckland . During the same time , another American Airlines flight of steps was forced to turn back while on its path to Auckland from Dallas , Texas , and in that scenario , passengers had to go through a 10 - hour flight to nowhere .
In February 2023 , a few New York - bound passengers on an Air New Zealand flight somehow had it worse . The plane in inquiry start out from Auckland , and after almost eight hours of flying , it diverted and headed back to Auckland , clocking in at a final flight time of more than 16 hours ( which is long than the Auckland - New York route itself , which is the fifth long in the world at 15 hours and 55 minute of air sentence ) . On that occasion , One nautical mile at a Timereports that it was because of an issue at NYC ’s John F. Kennedy International Airport , where Terminal 1 had to shut down because of a fire . Instead of diverting it to another airport , Air New Zealand settle that the best decision was to fly back .
But why do flights to nowhere happen? And how common are they?
If you thought airway just fly back to their original destination out of spite , ( thankfully ) you ’re wrong . As experts will have you know , it all come down to safety — and when airlines can forfend doing so , they unquestionably take against it .
" Given how commercial-grade travel is a greater priority get out of the pandemic , the feasibility of a flight of stairs to nowhere is low , " flight of stairs expert Joy Angelica Chan told Thrillist . " More often than not , airlines will prefer to ground their planes due to maintenance / engineering or personnel regulation issues rather than take off and return to the power point of origin . In this case , re - booking and re - scheduling flier is more the norm . "
