Plane flies 13 hours only to land where it took off

Auckland: Travellers flying with Emirates to Auckland had a long trip to nowhere when the aircraft they were travelling on turned back to Dubai after seven hours in the air.

On Friday, flight number EK448 from Dubai to Auckland departed the UAE at around 10:30am, and ended up landing back at the same airport where it took off a little more than 13 hours later. 

The pilot turned around nearly halfway into the almost 9,000-mile journey, landing back in Dubai just after midnight Saturday. 

Auckland Airport was forced to close at the start of the weekend due to severe flooding. 

“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 local time. “We know this is extremely frustrating but the safety of passengers is our top priority.”

On Saturday night local time, after domestic flights resumed, airport officials said that international flights would resume Sunday morning.

Emirates said in a statement to Business Insider, “We regret the inconvenience caused to customers. Emirates will continue to monitor the situation in Auckland and issue updates where required.”

The flight, however, was rescheduled for Saturday Dubai time.