Passengers travel 16 hours after the U-turn on the New Zealand-NY flight

Bloomberg – Passengers on a cross-Pacific flight between Auckland, New Zealand and New York were forced to endure 16 hours in their seats Thursday. Only to return to the starting point.

Air New Zealand Limited flight NZ2 John F. Should have landed at Kennedy Airport. But the blackout disrupted all operations and affected at least 135 flights.

Flightradar 24 data showed the Boeing 787 making a U-turn Halfway through its 14,000 kilometer flight across the Pacific, south of Hawaii.

“Due to an electrical fire at JFK Airport Terminal 1 and subsequent terminal closure, NZ2 from Auckland to New York was forced to divert back to Auckland,” Air New Zealand said in a statement.

“Diversion to another US port. The aircraft will be grounded for several days, affecting many scheduled services and customers. The airline said it is working to rebook passengers on the next available flights.

The flight change echoes a similar incident in January, when an Emirates flight from Dubai to Auckland turned back due to flooding at its destination. As a result, passengers had to fly for 13 hours to get anywhere. The closure of New Zealand’s largest airport, Auckland, has prompted a major operation by Air New Zealand to rescue more than 9,000 customers stranded overseas.

However, Auckland travelers aren’t the only ones experiencing the travel dream. Korean Air Lines Co. to New York from Seoul Incheon International Airport KE85. The flight was a short distance off the Alaskan coast before turning back due to JFK power outages.

“The airline realized that a diversion at 5 hours 30 minutes into a 14-hour flight was unavoidable,” an airline spokesperson said. “All options were considered and the decision to return to Incheon was made taking into account a number of factors such as distance traveled and operational conditions.”

That may not have been comforting to the passengers, who landed at their starting point in South Korea at 10:14 a.m. local time on Friday after a nearly 14-hour journey.

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