London to Dubai BA flight turns back 90 minutes from landing after Iran strikes
A map showing the flight path of BA Flight 109 to Dubai, which turned around over Saudi Arabia and diverted to Zurich (Picture: Flightradar24)
A flight from London to Dubai was forced to turn back less than two hours before it was due to land following Donald Trump’s air strike on Iran.
British Airways Flight 109 left Heathrow at 9.53pm on Saturday night – hours before the US dropped bombs on three of Tehran’s nuclear sites.
The Boeing 787 flew five hours on its path, which would have taken it over Egypt, the Red Sea and then across Saudi Arabia.
However, with less than two hours before its scheduled arrival in the UAE, the jet turned around at 2.48am after receiving news of the latest developments in Iran.
Dubai is less than 100 miles from Iranian airspace.
Because the aircraft did not have sufficient fuel to fly back to London, the crew made the decision to land in Zurich in Switzerland instead.
Airlines have been forced to reroute flights around Israel, Iran and several surrounding nations, with European carriers also avoiding Ukrainian and Russian airspace.
Flights between Europe and Asia typically travel over Egypt and then Saudi Arabia or across Turkish, Armenian and Georgian airspace to circumvent the trouble spots.
British Airways has also cancelled all of its three planned flights to Dubai on Sunday, as well as its flight to Doha in Qatar this evening (Picture: Shutterstock / IanC66)
BA has since cancelled all three planned departures to Dubai on Sunday, while around 1,000 of its passengers remain stuck in the Gulf city awaiting a return flight.
The airline also axed a Sunday night flight bound for Doha in Qatar, the Independent reported.
Emirates’ operation remains unaffected, with its flights from UK airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester and Birmingham all leaving as normal.
Tehran warned of ‘everlasting consequences’ after the US said it had ‘obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear program.
British Airways said: ‘As a result of recent events, we have adjusted our flight schedule to ensure the safety of our customers and crew, which is always our top priority.
‘We are contacting our customers to advise them of their options while we work through this developing situation.’
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