32-HOUR flight to NOWHERE after journey to Crete suffers so many aborted landing attempts and puking passengers the captain gives up and returns home

By TARYN PEDLER

Published: 18:27 BST, 9 June 2025 | Updated: 23:45 BST, 9 June 2025

Passengers endured a mind-numbing 32-hour flight to nowhere after a journey to Greece suffered so many delays the pilot gave up and flew home.

The Condor flight DE1234 embarked on what was meant to be a routine flight from Zurich, Switzerland, to Heraklion, Crete, on May 24 before the chaos unfolded.

Despite departing around 30 minutes late, the flight appeared to be running smoothly, and after two hours into the 1,198-mile flight, the plane began its initial descent to the Greek island.

But the aircraft’s landing was disrupted by powerful winds which forced it to circle around for a period of time before the pilot decided to divert the flight to Athens and refuel.

The flight touched down in the Greek capital at 11:24am local time – three hours after it had originally left Zurich.

Some two-and-a-half hours later, the crew made their second attempt at transporting the 137 passengers to Heraklion, only to face another delay.

They reportedly made it to their destination but quickly realised that the weather conditions were still severe. 

After circling round again, the pilot decided to divert to nearby Kos to refuel, landing at 3:28pm after a one-and-a-half hour flight.

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The Condor flight DE1234 embarked on what was meant to be a routine flight from Zurich, Switzerland, to Heraklion, Crete, on May 24 before the chaos unfolded. Pictured: Condor passenger airplane Airbus A320-200 at Swiss Airport Zürich Kloten, April 3, 2025

The flight was heading to Heraklion in Crete (pictured) but landed in a total of five different destinations on its journey

The flight departed from Zurich, Switzerland (pictured) and returned back there 32-hours after departing 

The aircraft was once more running dangerously low on fuel so it was decided the plane would divert yet again to Thessaloniki, where the crew and passengers spent the night.

They touched down at 6:04pm after a one-hour flight – a staggering 11 hours after they had departed from Zurich.

The following morning at 9am, the crew decided to make one final attempt to get to Crete, but found themselves in a holding pattern yet again, due to the winds.

Again, they were forced to divert to Athens, where the pilot decided to give up on the journey and fly back to Zurich, arriving a full 32-hours after the initial departure. 

Condor representatives said that ‘due to extreme weather conditions and strong winds, takeoffs and landings at Heraklion Airport were only possible to a limited extent,’ as per the NY Post.

During the tiresome journey, the crew reportedly landed a total of five times, and passengers were allegedly only given a glass of water and nothing else throughout  the flight.

Many passengers were said to have been vomiting during the approaches to Heraklion because of the severe winds.

When they landed in Thessaloniki, the flyers were also reportedly forced to fork out for their own hotel rooms, although they are entitled to reimbursement under European aviation guidelines.

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32-HOUR flight to NOWHERE after journey to Crete suffers so many aborted landing attempts and puking passengers the captain gives up and returns home

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