137 passengers endured 4 stops and an overnight stay, only to end up back where they started 32 hours later
After several diversions and an overnight stay, 137 passengers flying with German airline Condor ended up back where they started in a 32-hour ordeal.
Flight 1234 took off from Zurich on May 24 and was supposed to land in Heraklion, on the Greek island of Crete, about two-and-a-half hours later.
However, after circling off the coast half a dozen times, it U-turned to land in the Greek capital, Athens, instead, according to data from Flightradar24.
It would be the first of three failed attempts to land in Heraklion.
A Condor spokesperson told Business Insider that "extreme weather conditions with strong winds" meant takeoffs and landings were limited at the airport.
After two hours in the Greek capital, the Airbus A320 pilots made a second attempt. Flightradar24 data shows the plane again circled over the Aegean Sea before diverting to Kos, another Greek island, in a one-and-a-half-hour escapade.
After another one-and-a-half hours on the ground, the A320 flew an hour north to Thessaloniki, where passengers stayed overnight.
In the morning, the pilots made a final attempt to reach Heraklion. They again had to circle off the coast for half an hour before diverting once more to Athens.
A couple of hours later, the plane left Greece for Zurich. It landed shortly before 3 p.m. local time — 32 hours after passengers first departed the Swiss city.
The Condor spokesperson told BI that all passengers were served refreshments and drinks on board the flight.
"We sincerely apologize to all affected guests for the inconveniences caused by this," they added. "The safety of all guests and crew members is Condor's top priority at all times, as in this case as well."
They also asked that all the passengers contact customer service for refund and rebooking options.
It's not especially unusual for flights to return to their origins, as this typically makes it easier for airlines to reroute passengers or find replacement crew members after lengthy diversions.
For example, last Monday, a Swiss International Air Lines flight turned around over the Atlantic Ocean and returned to Zurich due to an engine issue.
However, it is rare to see a flight divert several times before ultimately returning to its origin, as in the Condor incident.
psyme@businessinsider.com.
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