New Zealand-bound passengers endured a 13-hour flight to nowhere after the airplane they had been on was compelled to return to Dubai when Auckland Airport closed as a result of flooding.
Emirates flight EK448 needed to flip round midway via its journey after torrential rain and flooding in Auckland meant the airport needed to shut.
The flight took off from Dubai on Friday simply earlier than 11am (native time) and was midway via the 9,000-mile journey when it needed to circle again to the United Arab Emirates.
Auckland Airport was closed to all worldwide and home flights on Friday, with greater than 2,000 passengers compelled to remain in a single day within the terminals.
Videos from the airport present folks wading via knee-deep water contained in the terminal buildings.
Auckland Airport apologised to passengers impacted by the closure.
In an announcement on Saturday, airport chief govt Carrie Hurihanganui mentioned it had been a “really long and challenging night”.
“Our teams, and those of our airport partners, continue to work around the clock to make sure we can get our domestic and international terminal operations open safely as soon as possible,” she mentioned.
The airport was reopened to home flights at lunchtime on Saturday and worldwide flights on Sunday morning.
Travellers from the US sure for New Zealand additionally ended up again the place they began when a flight from Dallas Fort Worth to Auckland needed to return to Texas after 10 hours within the air.
A state of emergency was declared in Auckland on Friday when the town was hit with a complete summer time’s price of rain in a single day.
Four folks died within the storm which brought about widespread flooding and landslides and led to street closures, energy cuts and a prepare derailment.
Further heavy rain is forecast for the start of this week and Auckland Airport has warned of additional flight disruptions.
Source: information.sky.com”