Dozens of “flights to nowhere” have left Britons stranded in the air during a terrifying 12-hour journey while dodging Iranian missiles and drones.
Mind-numbing tours have seen passengers taken on imaginary 6,150-mile flights to active warzones in the Middle East – before they are forced to turn back and land in London.
Emirates’ packed flight EK10, which took off from Gatwick on Monday for a planned trip to Britain’s holiday hotspot Dubai, was the latest plane to suffer the problem. iran war.
It comes like this…
As the pilot passed over Saudi Arabia, a massive Iranian drone strike opened fire on Dubai International Airport.
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Flights to and from the airport were immediately suspended as a thick plume of black smoke hung over the city’s horizon, preventing many flights from landing altogether.
Flight EK10 was one of these planes and was forced to turn back due to the dire threat from the Iranians ahead strikes Hovering.
Tracking data shows the pilot turned back to Gatwick before entering the UAE.
Once landed safely at Gatwick, the total flight time was almost half a day, completing the 6,150-mile journey.
Several similar disastrous flights also occurred between 1.40 am and 2 am UK time on Monday.
About 30 Dubai-bound Emirates flights were forced to make U-turns, many of which were coming from European and Indian cities. saudi arabia Or the Arabian Sea, according to FlightRadar24 and AirNav Radar.
Passengers aboard flight EK164 were informed near Cairo, Egypt that they were to return to Dublin shortly after the war drums sounded.
Other fliers were not so lucky.
Some aircraft were unable to make return flights to their original destinations due to connection or fuel concerns, so were diverted to various locations.
Flights from New York, Tokyo, Shanghai and Moscow to Cairo, Karachi, Dhaka and Islamabad were stopped.
Two flights from Dallas and Toronto were diverted to Italy.
Some flights, including Emirates flight EK9875 from Shanghai to Dubai, faced wartime skies.
After a 6,800-mile marathon – including a 20-hour flight – the plane landed in the United Arab Emirates after refueling in Bangladesh.
Thousands of flights in and out of the Middle East have been canceled since the war broke out following US-Israeli air strikes on Tehran.
British Airways has canceled all flights to Dubai until the end of June as the ongoing crisis in Iran continues to impact travel.
The flag carrier confirmed that it has suspended all operations in the UAE, Jordan and Bahrain until May 31.
Flights to Doha have also been suspended until the end of April.
Emirates and Queue The airways have resumed limited flights from Dubai and Doha respectively in recent weeks.
It comes as attacks on oil and gas plants in the Middle East have now caused turmoil in the fresh energy market.
Israel launched its first major attack on Iranian energy sites, posing an immediate threat of massive retaliation against Gulf plants that supply much of the world’s oil and gas.
The mullahs warned neighboring states to evacuate major installations, sending the price of Brent crude rising 6.1 percent to nearly $110 a barrel.
Iran immediately retaliated by targeting the world’s largest liquefied natural gas plant with missiles.
Horrific footage showed several large fires in Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial city as QatarEnergy confirmed it suffered “extensive damage” in the attack.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was also set on fire in a suspected Iranian ballistic missile attack, injuring four civilians.
