Hundreds of British Airways passengers headed for Dubai spent nine hours in flight – finally arriving in Zurich, less than 500 miles from their starting point.
The lengthy diversion occurred as a result of the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel, which on Saturday night saw Donald Trump target Tehran’s nuclear facilities with bombs.
BA flight 109 from London Heathrow to the Gulf hub took off at 9.53pm and flew normally for almost five hours towards Dubai. The flightpath took the Boeing 787 Dreamliner southeast over Egypt, the Red Sea and into Saudi Arabian airspace.
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But at 2.48am British time, about 90 minutes before touchdown at Dubai, the aircraft turned around and retraced its course due to the fresh attacks in the Middle East.
The flight had been fuelled only for the journey to Dubai with a contingency for diversion – but could not make it all the way back to London. Instead, the pilots landed at Zurich airport, which is 480 miles from Heathrow.
According to information at ba.com, the plane is expected to leave Zurich at 12.50 British time, landing at Heathrow at 2.35pm.
A later British Airways flight from Heathrow to Dubai was cancelled before departure. All three BA departures from Heathrow to Dubai on Sunday 22 June are grounded.
As a result of the diversion and cancelled flights, more than 1,000 British Airways passengers are waiting in Dubai to be flown home.
Emirates’ overnight flights from the UK to Dubai, from airports including Heathrow, Stansted, Birmingham and Manchester, operated as normal. BA may rebook stranded passengers on Emirates.
British Airways has also grounded its Sunday evening flight from London Heathrow to Doha.
Dubai is less than 100 miles from the Iranian mainland; Doha is 150 miles away.
A spokesperson for British Airways said: “As a result of recent events, we have adjusted our flight schedule to ensure the safety of our customers and crew, which is always our top priority.
“We are contacting our customers to advise them of their options while we work through this developing situation.” BA passengers with bookings to Dubai and Doha between now and Tuesday 24 June can postpone their trips up to 4 July by calling the airline.
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