The passenger aircraft embarks on a 13-hour flight only to touch down at the initial airport from which it departed.

After spending 13 hours in the air, a commercial flight was compelled to return to its departure airport.

On January 27th at 10:30 am earlier this year, Emirates flight EK448 departed from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, en route to Auckland, New Zealand. Unfortunately, it did not reach its intended destination.

Caution: Includes footage of extensive flooding.

The anticipated 16-hour, 9,000-mile journey from Dubai to Auckland took an unexpected turn as, after 13 hours airborne, the aircraft touched down back at Dubai International Airport. The reason behind this unusual course of action was the pilots receiving information that Auckland Airport had been closed due to extensive flooding caused by a torrential downpour, resulting in several casualties.

According to FlightAware data from the trip, the plane departed from the airport, traversed the sea near Malaysia, but then had to execute a u-turn, subsequently returning to Dubai International Airport shortly after midnight on Saturday, January 28th.

Due to flooding that trapped travelers inside terminal buildings, Auckland Airport had to shut down, leading to the cancellation of both domestic and international flights.

A statement released by the airport mentioned, "Auckland Airport has been evaluating the impact on our international terminal and, regrettably, concluded that no international flights can proceed today. We understand the immense frustration this may cause, but the safety of passengers remains our foremost concern."

Auckland Airport reopened to domestic flights at lunchtime on Saturday, before international flights resumed on Sunday morning (28 January).

Apologising to those affected by the closure, airport Chief Executive Carrie Hurihanganui said 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 said.

New Zealand’s north island had been hit by heavy rainfall, flash floods and landslides since Friday, with officials declaring a state of emergency after Auckland received the amount of rain it would have all summer in one single day.

The number of fatalities increased to four as confirmation came that a man, previously reported missing after being swept away in Onewhero, a village situated 70 km south of Auckland, had succumbed to the incident.

Addressing the situation, Mayor Wayne Brown expressed his concerns to the press, emphasizing that despite many Aucklanders assuming "the worst is behind us," it was not the case. Brown highlighted that the downfall was unprecedented, marking the city's most significant in history, surpassing levels that emergency services could have anticipated or planned for.

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