And then they had to do it all again the next day!
In what would be a nightmare for any traveller, passengers were returned to the airport that took off from after spending around 13 hours in the air.
Due to what is thought to have been the
wettest day ever recorded in Auckland, New Zealand, an Emirates flight that left Dubai at 10.30 am Friday, February 3, was forced to return there after not being able to reach its destination, some 14,200km (8,823 miles) away.
Due to a state of emergency being declared in New Zealand's biggest city, the airport was closed.
With a total flying time of more than 16 hours, passengers were nearly halfway through the journey, flying near Malaysia, when the jet U-turned, according to data from flight tracking website FlightRadar24.
Passengers landed back in Dubai again after more than 13 hours in the air, according to data aviation analytics company Cirium - landing back in Dubai just after midnight Saturday.
The rescheduled flight departed Dubai for the second time on Sunday, shortly after 11 am, and was due to arrive in Auckland around midday Monday.
Intense rain on 27 January brought provisionally the wettest day ever recorded in Auckland, with a number of weather stations recording in excess of 200mm in 18 hours. Parts of the city were hit with more than 150mm in the space of three hours, bringing severe flooding.
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Auckland airport had to close its airport and cancel domestic and international flights after rain left travellers stuck inside the terminal buildings wading through knee-deep flood water.
The
airport said in a statement that, after assessing the damage, no international flights can operate today.
“We know this is extremely frustrating but the safety of passengers is our top priority.”
Auckland Airport reopened to domestic flights at lunchtime on Saturday, before international flights resumed Sunday.
The death toll from the floods increased to four after a man who went missing when he has swept away in Onewhero, a village 70km south of Auckland, was confirmed to have died.
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