Auckland declared a state of emergency on Friday after receiving an entire summer’s worth of rainfall in a single day, causing the city’s airport to stay closed to domestic flights until Saturday midday and international flights until Sunday morning.
Passengers destined for New Zealand endured a 13-hour flight to nowhere after their plane was forced to return to Dubai due to flooding at Auckland Airport.
Auckland’s airport closed due to heavy rain and flooding, forcing Emirates aircraft EK448 to land.
The flight departed Dubai just before 11 a.m. local time on Friday. And was halfway through the 15,000-mile voyage when it was forced to return to the United Arab Emirates.
Auckland Airport cancelled all international and domestic flights on Friday, forcing almost 2,000 passengers to stay overnight.
Videos from the airport show passengers wading through water up to their knees inside the terminals.
Auckland Airport issued an apology to affected passengers.
In a statement released on Saturday, airport chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui described the previous night as “very long and challenging.”
“Our personnel and those of our airport partners are continuing to work around the clock to ensure that we can open our domestic and international terminal operations as soon as possible and safely,” she said.
The airport reopened for domestic flights on Saturday at lunchtime and international flights the following morning.
After 10 hours in the air, an aircraft from Dallas Fort Worth to Auckland was forced to return to Texas, bringing travelers from the United States heading for New Zealand back to where they began.
Auckland declared a state of emergency on Friday after getting a summer’s worth of rain in one day.
Four people died in the storm that triggered flooding, landslides, road closures, power outages, and a train derailment.
The beginning of this week is expected to see additional severe rain. And Auckland Airport has warned of additional flight delays.
