16 hour Air New Zealand flight goes nowhere

February 20, 2023

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An Air New Zealand flight traveled 16 hours and ended up in the same airport.

Passengers on a flight from New Zealand to New York spent 16 hours in the air just to end up back in Auckland due to a technical fault.

The Air New Zealand flight was on a non-stop journey from Auckland to New York. It had been in the air for about 8 hours and was about 3,200km from California when the airline received word about an electrical fire at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport that had closed Terminal.

The decision was made for the plane to turn around and return to Auckland, where it landed about 16 hours after departing.

Terminal 1 remained closed Friday while crews repaired the issues caused by the electrical fire.

The airline apologized to passengers and said those aboard the flight would be booked on the next available flights to New York.