Summary

  • British Airways flight BA 31 returned to London due to a technical issue after flying a third of the route to Hong Kong.
  • Passengers endured an 11-hour journey to return to London before the flight was eventually canceled.
  • The same service the next day was also disrupted by a medical emergency, causing another mid-flight diversion.

A British Airways Boeing 777 aircraft bound for Hong Kong had to turn around recently due to a technical issue. The service takes more than 12 hours to complete, but the incident resulted in the aircraft flying for over 10 hours just to return to London.

Technical issue forces turnaround

On June 29, British Airways flight BA 31 between London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) had to return to London after flying for about a third of the route.

Per Flightradar24, the Boeing 777 took off at 20:55 and reached Turkmenistan when it turned around at 35,000 feet. The airline said the decision to return to London was taken after the aircraft developed a technical problem. LHR is British Airways’ main base, and a proper maintenance team is available there.

Flight path

However, the passengers had to endure around 11 hours of journey just to come back to London. The service usually takes a little over 12 hours to land in Hong Kong. The flight was eventually canceled, with British Airways commenting,

“The flight returned to London Heathrow as a precaution due to a minor technical issue. It landed safely and customers disembarked as normal. We’ve apologised to our customers for the disruption to their journey.”

Coincidentally, the same service the next day was also disrupted mid-flight following a medical emergency onboard. According to data by Flightradar24, the 777 diverted to Budapest, where it eventually took off at 02:01 for Hong Kong.

Flight path

About the aircraft

The aircraft involved in the June 29 incident is an almost 24-year-old Boeing 777-200ER registered as G-YMMI. It was delivered to British Airways in November 2000 and has accumulated more than 100,000 flight hours across 12,609 flight cycles as of April 2024, per ch-aviation. It offers a total of 272 seats, with 184 in economy, 40 in premium economy, and 48 in business class.

British Airways 777-200ER

Photo: The Global Guy | Shutterstock

British Airways has more than 50 active Boeing 777s in its fleet. Of these, it currently has 40 777-200ERs and 15 777-300ERs, according to data by ch-aviation. Its widebody fleet also comprises Boeing 787s, Airbus A350-1000 and A380.

Flights to nowhere

Long-haul flights can be tiring, but the thought of eventually deboarding at the intended destination helps with the journey. However, there are times when a flight has to return to its point of origin for whatever reason, only for everyone onboard to endure several hours of air travel to nowhere.

The latest British Airways incident is one of many that have taken place over the years. Last year, a 3.5-hour Flair Airlines service in Canada became a 10-hour flight to nowhere following a diversion due to inclement weather.

Flair Airlines Boeing 737 MAX

Photo: Philippe Godin | Shutterstock

In June 2023, flooding in Auckland, New Zealand, forced two international flights to turn back. An Emirates Airbus A380 was about six hours into its journey when it was forced to turn back to Dubai. It became a 13-hour flight to nowhere. An American Airlines Boeing 787 flying from Dallas to Auckland also turned around nearly five hours into the flight, making it a 10-hour flight to nowhere.

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