DOZENS of “flights to nowhere” have seen Brits stranded in the air on terrifying 12-hour journeys dodging Iranian missiles and drones.
Mind-numbing trips have seen fliers taken on 6,150-mile phantom flights towards active warzones in the Middle East – before being forced to turn around and land back in London.
A packed Emirates flight EK10 which left Gatwick on Monday for a planned trip to Brit holiday hotspot Dubai was the latest plane plagued by the Iran war.
It comes as…
As the pilot cruised over Saudi Arabia, a major Iranian drone blitz set fire to Dubai International Airport.
Flights to and from the airport were quickly suspended as several journeys were axed entirely from landing due to plumes of black smoke covering the city’s skyline.
Flight EK10 was one of these aircraft which was forced to turn around as the terrifying threat of further Iranian strikes loomed.
Tracking data shows the pilot turned back towards Gatwick before ever entering the UAE.
Once landing safely back in Gatwick, the total fly time amassed nearly half a day with a whopping 6,150 miles round trip completed.
Several similar disastrous flights also occurred between 1.40am to 2am UK time on Monday.
Around 30 Emirates flights heading to Dubai were forced to make U-turns with many coming in from European and Indian cities while over Saudi Arabia or the Arabian Sea, according to FlightRadar24 and AirNav Radar.
Passengers on board flight EK164 were informed near Cairo, Egypt that they would be heading back to Dublin immediately after the drums of war sounded.
Other fliers weren’t so lucky.
Some aircraft were unable to make a return flight back to their original destination thanks to connections or fuel fears so instead were sent to various locations.
Flights from New York, Tokyo, Shanghai and Moscow were grounded to Cairo, Karachi, Dhaka and Islamabad.
Two flights from Dallas and Toronto were even diverted to Italy.
Some flights did brave the wartime skies including Emirates flight EK9875 from Shanghai to Dubai.
After a marathon 6,800 miles – including 20 hours of flying – the aircraft landed in the UAE after a refuelling stop in Bangladesh.
Tens of thousands of flights have been cancelled in and out of the Middle East since war broke out after US-Israeli air strikes on Tehran.
British Airways has cancelled all flights to Dubai until as late as June as the ongoing crisis in Iran continues to affect travel.
The flag carrier confirmed they have suspended all operations until May 31 in the UAE, Jordan and Bahrain.
Flights to Doha have also been suspended until the end of April.
Emirates and Qatar Airways have launched limited flights again from Dubai and Doha, respectively in recent weeks.
It comes as attacks on Middle East oil and gas plants have now sparked fresh energy market turmoil.
Israel launched its first major strikes on Iranian energy sites, detonating immediate threats of massive retaliation on Gulf plants supplying the bulk of the world’s oil and gas.
The mullahs warned neighbouring states to evacuate key installations, sending the Brent crude oil price surging as much as 6.1per cent to nearly $110-a-barrel.
Iran quickly launched revenge strikes targeting the world’s largest liquefied natural gas plant with missiles.
Horrifying footage showed multiple large fires at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar as QatarEnergy confirmed it suffered “extensive damage” in the attack.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was also set ablaze in a suspected Iranian ballistic missile blitz which injured four civilians.
