Phantom flight: Iran war creates 9,100km round trips to nowhere

LONDON - As Emirates flight EK10 from London cruised over Saudi Arabia on March 16, news broke of a drone strike at its destination, Dubai. The aircraft turned back to Gatwick, flight data show, completing a 9,100km round trip — one of dozens of "flights to nowhere" triggered by the Middle East war.

Roughly 30 Emirates flights heading to Dubai International were also ordered back or rerouted after Iranian drone attacks temporarily shut what is normally the world's busiest airport for international passengers.

Passengers expecting a dawn landing in the glitzy United Arab Emirates port city were stunned.

"Was supposed to wake up on approach to Dubai," said one social media user posting a map of his flight, EK164, turning around near Cairo and heading back to Dublin.

The surprise U-turns – quickly dubbed "flights to nowhere" on social media — have become one of the most visible quirks of flying since the US-Israeli conflict with Iran began on Feb 28, joining soaring fuel costs, stranded travellers and rewritten routes on the list of challenges facing airlines.

Emirates confirmed some flights returned to their origin airports or to hubs near the departure points, but gave no further details.

The conflict initially shut large parts of Gulf airspace and sent regional traffic to near zero.

Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways and flydubai have since restored many services, though intermittent drone and missile alerts continue to prompt sudden diversions.

The UAE briefly closed its airspace again on March 17.

Marathon flights, detours

Between 0140 and 0200 GMT on March 16, Emirates services from several European and Indian cities turned back mid-flight while over Saudi Arabia or the Arabian Sea, according to FlightRadar24 and AirNav Radar.

One London service that usually reaches Dubai in under seven hours returned after 11½ hours. Others turned back to Madrid, Lisbon and Paris.

Some aircraft near to arrival were pushed onto long detours. Flights from New York, Tokyo, Shanghai and Moscow were rerouted to Cairo, Karachi, Dhaka and Islamabad. Two flights from Dallas and Toronto diverted to Italy, while planes from Lusaka, Dhaka and Johannesburg stopped at halfway airports or flew home.

Emirates flight EK9875 from Shanghai did reach Dubai, but only after a marathon 11,000km and 20 hours of flying, including a stop in Bangladesh.

Thousands of flights cancelled

Emirates has also shifted dozens of services from Dubai International to nearby airports Dubai World Central, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi and Muscat, as well as to regional hubs like Jeddah, Cairo and Medina.

Since Feb 28, Emirates has cancelled more than 2,000 flights – 54 per cent of scheduled services, Cirium data show. That compares with cancellation rates of 93 per cent at Qatar Airways and 79 per cent at Etihad.

In total, around 30,000 flights to and from Middle East airports have been cancelled as of March 17, the data show. REUTERS