New Zealand-Bound Emirates Plane Flies For 13 Hours, Lands Exactly Where It Took Off

A flight operated by Emirates that was supposed to arrive in Auckland, New Zealand, after departing Dubai in the morning on Friday was forced to make an emergency landing back at the airport from where it had originated a little over 13 hours after it had left.

According to FlightAware and?Business Insider, flight EK448 took off from Dubai around 10:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, but the pilot decided to turn around after?traveling over 9,000 miles.

Because of the catastrophic floods, Auckland Airport had no choice but to close at the beginning of the weekend.

"Auckland Airport has been assessing the damage to our international terminal and unfortunately determined that no international flights can operate today,"?the airport said in a statement on Saturday afternoon local time.?

"We know this is extremely frustrating, but the safety of passengers is our top priority."

After domestic flights began late Saturday evening local time, airport officials announced that international flights would resume early Sunday morning.

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Emirates said in a statement to Business Insider, "We regret the inconvenience caused to customers. Emirates will continue to monitor the situation in Auckland and issue updates where required."

Flight 448 was rescheduled to take place on Saturday, Dubai time, and it was expected to arrive in Auckland in the afternoon on Sunday, local time.

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