Latest news with #HeraklionAirport
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Horrid flight as passengers stuck on 32-hour trip to nowhere — and wind up right back where they started
It was quite the odyssey. Passengers endured a mind-numbing, 32-hour flight to nowhere after a Condor flight to Greece was forced to turn around and return home following multiple failed trips. The Sisyphean journey occurred on May 24 when Condor flight DE1234 was embarking on what was supposed to be a routine 1,198-mile flight from Zurich to Heraklion in Crete, Greece, One Mile At A Time reported. Despite departing around 30 minutes late, the flight appeared to be going swimmingly. After a short two hours, the plane began its initial descent to the idyllic Greek isle. Unfortunately, the aircraft's landing was hampered by powerful winds, which forced it to circle around for a prolonged period before the pilot decided to divert to Athens and refuel. They touched down at the Greek capital at 11:24 a.m. local time — three hours after they'd originally departed Zurich. Around two and a half hours later, the crew made a second attempt to ferry the 137 passengers to Heraklion, only to be boomeranged yet again. The weather conditions were still quite severe. After circling around again, they decided to divert to Kos, a nearby Greek island, to refuel, landing at 3:28 p.m. after a 1.5-hour flight. As the aircraft was once again running dangerously low on fuel, the decision was made to divert to Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece, which the crew felt was a good place for the passengers and flight attendants to spend the night. They reportedly touched down at 6:04 after an approximately one-hour flight — a whopping 11 hours after they'd initially left Zurich. The following day at 9 a.m., the crew decided to make one last attempt to get to Crete, but found themselves in a holding pattern yet again due to the wind — like de ja flew. Again, they were forced to divert to Athens, whereupon the crew decided to call it quits and fly back to Zurich, arriving a full 32 hours after their initial departure. Condor reps said that 'due to extreme weather conditions and strong winds, takeoffs and landings at Heraklion Airport were only possible to a limited extent.' During the fruitless journey, they had reportedly landed a total of five different times. To make matters worse, flyers were only given a glass of water and nothing else during the whole flight while many passengers vomited during the approaches to Heraklion because of the powerful winds. Upon arriving at Thessaloniki, meanwhile, flyers were forced to float their own hotel rooms, although they are entitled to reimbursement under European aviation guidelines. This isn't the first time passengers have experienced an inadvertent round trip. Last June, British Airways passengers flew for hours across the Atlantic Ocean — only for the plane to turn around and return halfway through their trip due to a technical issue.
New York Post
a day ago
- New York Post
Horror flight as passengers stuck on 32-hour trip to nowhere — only to wind up right back where they started
It was quite the Greek Odyssey. Passengers endured a mind-numbing 32-hour flight to nowhere after a Condor flight to Greece was forced to turn around and return home following multiple failed trips. The Sisyphean journey occurred on May 24 when a Condor flight DE1234 was embarking on what was supposed to be a routine 1,198-mile flight from Zurich, Switzerland to Heraklion in Crete, Greece, One Mile At A Time reported. Advertisement 3 A Condor Airbus A321 in Heraklion, Greece. Markus Mainka – Despite departing around 30 minutes late, the flight appeared to be going swimmingly. After a short two hours, the plane began its initial descent to the idyllic Greek isle. Unfortunately, the aircraft's landing was hampered by powerful winds, which forced it to circle around for a prolonged period before the pilot decided to divert to Athens and refuel. Advertisement They touched down at the Greek capital at 11:24 a.m. local time — three hours after they'd originally departed Zurich. Around two and a half hours later, the crew made a second attempt to ferry the 137 passengers to Heraklion, only to be boomeranged yet again. 3 The flight returned to Zurich Airport (pictured) a staggering 32 hours after the initial departure. Taljat – They reportedly made it to the destination, only to see that weather conditions were still quite severe. After circling around again, they decided to divert to nearby Kos to refuel, landing at 3:28 p.m. after a 1.5-hour flight. Advertisement As the aircraft was once again running dangerously low on fuel, the decision was made to divert to Thessaloniki, which the crew felt was a good place for the passengers and crew to spend the night. 3 Condor reps said that 'due to extreme weather conditions and strong winds, takeoffs and landings at Heraklion Airport were only possible to a limited extent.' DirkDaniel – They reportedly touched down at 6:04 after an approximately one-hour flight — a whopping 11 hours after they'd initially left Zurich. The following morning at 9 a.m., the crew decided to make one last attempt to get to Crete, but found themselves in a holding pattern yet again due to the wind — like de ja flew. Advertisement Again, they were forced to divert to Athens, whereupon the crew decided to call it quits and fly back to Zurich, Switzerland, arriving a full 32 hours after their initial departure. Condor reps said that 'due to extreme weather conditions and strong winds, takeoffs and landings at Heraklion Airport were only possible to a limited extent.' During the fruitless journey, they had reportedly landed a total of five different times. To make matters worse, flyers were only given a glass of water and nothing else during the whole flight while many passengers vomited during the approaches to Heraklion because of the powerful winds. Upon arriving at Thessaloniki, meanwhile, flyers were forced to float their own hotel rooms — although they are entitled to reimbursement under European aviation guidelines. This isn't the first time passengers have experienced an inadvertent round trip. Last June, British Airways passengers flew for hours across the Atlantic Ocean — only for the plane to turn around and return halfway through their trip due to a technical issue.
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- Business
- The Irish Sun
The major new £422million airport set to transform European island with 18million passengers a year
GREECE'S biggest island is getting a huge new £422million airport. 4 Greece's biggest island is getting a huge new airport Credit: Heraklion Airport 4 The new Heraklion International Airport will replace the current airport on Crete Credit: Hill International 4 It will start replacing the current airport next year with a full opening in 2027 Credit: Hill International According to the New Heraklion International Airport, the new airport will serve 10million passengers each year, after opening. This number will then rise to 18million after some time. There will be 19 boarding gates, eight of which will be of combined use for Schengen and There will be space for 27 aircraft and also a terminal building with five levels of retail space and permanent exhibition areas. Read more on airports A masterplan map also shows an area shaded in purple that suggest future retail space. In addition, the airport is due to be one of the biggest in the country and when it opens it will replace the existing Nikos Kazantzakis International Airport in Heraklion. Nikos Kazantzakis International Airport opened back in 1937, however, it can only accommodate eight million passengers a year. Kastelli International Airport is being built to handle the growing number of tourists heading to Greece each year. Most read in News Travel The airport will be located a 25-minute drive away from Heraklion, which is the largest city on the island. In total, the airport is expected to cost €500million (£422million) to build and generate a total of 7,500 jobs in the area as well as a further 37,000 indirect jobs . The new £7billion mega terminal opening at Changi Airport In addition, the new airport is expected to give new life to Crete's tourism. According to A trial launch of of the airport will take place next summer, before a full opening in 2027. Currently, airlines including easyJet, Jet2 and British Airways fly to Crete. These are likely to move to the new airport when it opens. And there are a number of other new exciting airports opening around the world. A new Plus, 4 There will be 19 boarding gates, eight of which will be of combined use for Schengen and Non-Schengen flights Credit: Heraklion Airport
