After 16-Hour Flights, Planes Were Back Where They Started

If you thought a recent 14-hour flight to nowhere was bad, passengers on two long-haul flights got even longer, 15.5-hour tours to nowhere over the weekend owing to the conflict in Iran. American Airlines and Emirates jets each spent nearly 16 hours in the air before landing right back where they started after Gulf countries abruptly closed their airspace, per Business Insider. American Flight 120 left Philadelphia Friday night bound for Doha, crossed the Atlantic and reached the Mediterranean before turning around off Spain and returning to Philly after 15 hours, 32 minutes. The route has since been canceled as Qatar's airspace remains shut.

In the Pacific, an Emirates A380 departed Auckland on what was supposed to be a 16-hour trip to Dubai, only to reverse course about eight hours in and arrive back in New Zealand after 15 hours, 37 minutes. Dozens of Emirates aircraft have also diverted to unexpected airports, underscoring how central Gulf hubs are to global aviation flows—and helping drag down airline stocks worldwide. Thousands of flights have been canceled. Skies over the UAE, Kuwait, Israel, Bahrain, and Iraq also remained closed early Monday, with partial closures in Jordan as well, per CNN. On a normal day, the region's three major airlines—Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad Airways—transit a combined 90,000 passengers.