Flight awkwardly turns around after discovering airport was closed

A European airline has had to turn around mid-flight after realising the airport it was scheduled to land at was not open.

Eurowings flight EW9844 departed from Düsseldorf in Germany and was scheduled to land at the Sardinian airport of Olbia. However, with only 90 minutes remaining of the flight, the pilot discovered the airport was closed to commercial traffic due to coronavirus restrictions, Stuff.co.nz reported.

After circling for a while, the pilot decided to slug it back to Düsseldorf, despite opportunities to land at other airports.

The result was a four hour and 10-minute flight to nowhere.

Luckily, there were only two passengers on board, so we’re assuming customer complaints were kept to a minimum.

A Eurowings spokesperson told CNN Travel that the situation with airports in Europe right now is very dynamic.

“The large amount of information provided on operating hours or airport closures are often changed at short notice,” the spokesperson said.

Italy’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation reopened the airport on 17 May, but the decision was nixed the same day at a regional level, meaning Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport will remain closed until at least 2 June.

Travel Weekly has contacted Eurowings for comment.

Featured image: iStock/fotolinchen