Passengers flying to London were delayed by 10 hours after high winds saw their plane diverted to Germany before returning to its origin, then eventually reaching the UK.
Wizz Air Flight 6003 took off from Rome on Monday evening, scheduled to fly for about two hours to London Luton Airport.
However, the Airbus A321neo was unable to touch down on its first attempt. At the time, wind gusts were up to 31 knots, or about 35 miles per hour.
Data from Flightradar24 shows the plane circled over nearby Stevenage before descending for a second aborted landing attempt. A third attempt at landing was also unsuccessful.
The pilots then turned the plane away from London, flying over the Netherlands before diverting to Cologne, Germany.
An airline spokesperson told Business Insider the flight diverted “due to high winds at Luton.”
The Airbus A321neo landed there at 11:19 p.m. local time — over three and a half hours after leaving Italy.
However, that wasn’t the end of the journey.
“The flight then returned to Rome, before departing on December 2 for London Luton later that morning,” the Wizz spokesperson said.
Flight-tracking data shows the plane took off from Cologne around 1 a.m. local time and headed back to the Italian capital.
It departed Rome again at 5:43 a.m. before finally landing at London Luton Airport shortly before 7 a.m. local time — 10 hours later than initially scheduled.
The Wizz spokesperson said passengers were given meal vouchers for the airport and offered rebooking options if they preferred.
“We apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused some passengers,” they added. “The safety of our passengers, crew, and aircraft is our utmost priority.”
This isn’t the first time that high winds have caused unusually long diversions. They’re more common with European budget airlines that have bases across the continent, where it’s easier for them to reroute passengers.
During a storm in 2024, a Ryanair flight from Manchester, England, to Dublin diverted to Paris — nearly 500 miles away. That turned what was supposed to be a 45-minute trip into one lasting some nine hours. During the same storm, another Ryanair flight, from Ireland to Scotland, diverted to Cologne.
Read the original article on Business Insider
The post Passengers flying from Rome to London ended up in Germany, then back in Rome, before finally getting to their destination 10 hours late appeared first on Business Insider.
