2 days ago
Passengers stuck on 32-hour flight ended up back where they started: Reports
The Brief
A Condor flight that was headed from Switzerland to Greece made five stops, which included a layover, before ultimately landing back at its starting point.
The flight was supposed to last just three hours but instead took 32 hours.
During a layover in Thessaloniki, Greece, passengers allegedly had to foot the bill for their own hotel.
Flying can sometimes be stressful, but can you imagine being subjected to a 32-hour flight that was actually meant to last just three hours?
A Condor flight headed for Heraklion, Crete, in Greece, spent 32 hours in the air before ultimately landing back at the airport from which it started its exhausting journey.
Dig deeper
Flight DE1234 took off from Zurich, Switzerland, on May 24, and was headed for Greece. There were approximately 137 passengers and six crew members on board.
The flight departed about 30 minutes late, according to the New York Post, but other than the delay, the trip appeared to have no other issues, until it came time to land.
What they're saying
Condor airlines told People magazine that "strong winds" were the culprit that led to the long trip.
The pilots attempted to land several times in Crete and even made pit stops, including a layover in Thessaloniki (the second-largest city in Greece), Athens, before ultimately returning to Zurich.
Passengers were allegedly only given water and during the layover in Thessaloniki, passengers were reportedly forced to foot the bill for their own accommodations, despite European aviation guidelines that say they are entitled to reimbursement, NYP said.
Last June, a British Airways flight that was headed to Houston, Texas, from London, had crossed the entire Atlantic Ocean and was just on the coast of Newfoundland before it turned around and headed back to Heathrow Airport.
Passengers and crew had traveled over 4,833 miles at the end of the nine-hour ordeal – and still no closer to their desired destination.
The backstory
British Airways told FOX Business at the time that the reason they returned was due to a "minor technical issue."
"The flight returned to London Heathrow as a precaution due to a minor technical issue," a spokesperson explained. "It landed safely and customers disembarked as normal."
"We've apologized to our customers for the disruption to their journey."
The Source
Information for this article was taken from reporting by the New York Post, People magazine and previous reporting from FOX News. This story was reported from Los Angeles.
