Passengers on Friday’s British Airways flight from London to Hong Kong must have had an adventure …
British Airways flight to Hong Kong diverted to Manila
British Airways operates a daily flight from London (LHR) to Hong Kong (HKG) using a Boeing 777, with Flight number BA31. The flight began on Friday, October 8, 2021, like any other. The flight was banned at 12 noon and was scheduled to depart London at 6:40 pm on Friday and arrive in Hong Kong at 1:40 pm on Saturday.
The flight departed smoothly and approximately 11 hours after departure I was en route to Hong Kong. Unfortunately, Hong Kong was dealing with a tropical storm on Saturday. The British Airways 777 tried to land in Hong Kong, but due to the weather, the pilots had to take a tour. The pilots tried to land a second time, but another round was needed. Oh oh
At this point, the pilots made the decision to divert, as the weather had not improved. Airplanes always carry extra fuel for these types of situations, to take into account both detours and detours.
In this case, the decision was made to shift over 700 miles to Manila, where the weather was much better. The flight lasted, indeed, landing in Manila a full 13 hours and 19 minutes after leaving London, around 4 pm local time.
Passengers trapped on British Airways plane overnight
With all the passengers on the ground safe, it was time to decide what to do next. The weather was still bad in Hong Kong, so the flight was still unable to continue. Then, of course, there is the problem of border restrictions due to the coronavirus: Due to the restrictions, most of the passengers on board were not eligible to enter the Philippines, so it is not as if British Airways could let everyone leave. from the plane and put them in a hotel. tonight.
Instead, everyone, including the passengers and crew, spent the night on the plane. As mentioned above, the plane arrived in Manila at 4pm and was finally able to depart for Hong Kong the next morning at 10am, so the plane remained on the ground for 18 hours.
At 10 a.m. the next day, the plane finally began its journey to Hong Kong. The flight lasted about an hour and 56 minutes, and even that flight had some excitement: The flight aborted a landing this time (plus the two flights the day before).
The flight finally landed in Hong Kong around 12 noon, about 22 hours late. When the plane finally landed in Hong Kong, the cabin erupted in applause.
In the end, the passengers stayed on the plane for 33 hours after leaving London, which does not take into account the time people spend at London airport before the flight. The passengers had positive things to say about the crew, so we congratulate them on how they handled this difficult situation.
I can’t imagine how difficult it would be for those in the economy between having to sit down and wear a mask all that time. Meanwhile, for those in first and business class, it probably wasn’t that bad.
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Sure enough, the British Airways flight from London to Hong Kong on Friday was a long one. Although the flight usually takes about 12 hours, in this case the passengers have been on the plane for about 33 hours.
There was a tropical storm in Hong Kong, so after two failed approaches, the decision was made to divert to Manila. Since the weather is not improving in Hong Kong, passengers had to spend the night on the plane in the Philippines. The next morning, the plane finally continued to Hong Kong, where the passengers finally landed after another missed approach.
What an adventure – kudos to the crew for keeping everyone safe.
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