An American Airlines flight heading for Naples, Italy, was forced into a 140-mile diversion last week, leaving 231 passengers facing a three-hour bus journey to reach their final destination. The unexpected detour created significant disruption for those on board.
The flight, American Airlines Flight 780, was just 40 miles from Naples on June 2 when it abruptly veered off course over the Tyrrhenian Sea, according to FlightAware tracking data. Instead of landing in Naples, the aircraft was redirected to Rome Fiumicino Airport.
American Airlines confirmed the diversion was “due to operational limitations,” explaining that the flight was being operated by a larger Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.
This particular model has a wingspan approximately 20 feet wider than the Boeing 787-8 planes usually flown to Naples by the airline, meaning it was simply too big for the runway.
An aviation enthusiast, who shared the incident on X, claimed that the larger Dreamliner exceeded Naples’ requirements for rescue and firefighting services, making it unsuitable for landing there.
The standard 787-8 aircraft, however, fits within these parameters.
Upon landing in Rome at around 9:45am frustrated passengers were then put on buses for the 140-mile road trip to Naples, the New York Post reported.
American Airlines issued an apology, saying: “We apologise to them for this disruption to their journey.”
The Express has reached out to American Airlines for further comment.
This incident follows another recent disruption for travellers to Italy.
A Ryanair flight to Milan was forced to divert to Germany last week due to severe turbulence from a thunderstorm, injuring eight people.
A statement shared with the Express read: “FR8 from Berlin to Milan on June 4 diverted to Memmingen after experiencing some air turbulence.
“The captain called ahead for medical assistance and the aircraft landed normally.
“To get passengers to their final destination as quickly as possible, we arranged for alternative transport from Memmingen to Milan that night, as well as a replacement flight this morning.
“We sincerely apologise to passengers affected by this diversion.”