British Airways passengers’ fury at 9 hour ‘flight to nowhere’

A British Airways flight from Gatwick made a sudden U-turn back to the airport – about five hours into the journey to a holiday paradise.

Passengers were left disappointed after their BA flight from the UK’s second-busiest airport to Costa Rica was forced to turn back over the Atlantic.

The Boeing 777 plane departed London Gatwick on Tuesday morning for the journey to San José which usually takes around 11 hours and 40 minutes non-stop.

After departing about half an hour late, the plane took off and holidaymakers settled in for the trans-Atlantic journey.

But around five hours into the long-haul flight, the plane suddenly turned back over the ocean – meaning the passengers had endured the flight to nowhere for hours.

Flightradar24 tracker shows the plane was almost in the middle of the ocean before the incident which forced pilots to turn back to the UK – approximately a 4,000-mile round trip.

One disgruntled passenger said on social the plane was halfway into the journey before it turned back.

She claimed there was ‘no word of compensation or another flight,’ describing the situation as a ‘mess.’

A British Airways spokesperson said the plane experienced ‘a minor technical issue.’

‘We’re sorry for the delay in our customers’ travel plans after their aircraft experienced a minor technical issue,’ they told Metro.

‘Our teams looked after our customers during the delay and worked hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible.’

The plane involved in the incident appeared to be scheduled to fly again the next day, according to Flightradar24.

It comes just days after British Airways cancelled all flights from Gatwick to New York until next year.

The airline said it axed flights over the coming months at least until next year as it was unable to find parts for the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines used by the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

A British Airways flight made headlines recently after a fight broke out allegedly over a Donald Trump MAGA hat one passenger was wearing.

The incident delayed the flight from Heathrow by two hours.

Delays and detours are costly to airlines as they pay for fuel, potential additional airport fees and customer compensation.

A Boeing 777 typically costs around $40,000,000 (£30,900,000) per year to operate and an estimated $60,300 per flight cycle, according to Aviation Intelligence.

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