Eurowings flight EW168 with destination Seattle was scheduled to depart from Cologne-Bonn Airport (CGN) at 2:00 PM (local time) on Monday. However, the departure was delayed by more than 8 hours due to a technical fault and eventually left Cologne at 10:25 PM (local time).
Eurowings flight #EW168 (operated by SunExpress Germany) from Cologne to Seattle returned to CGN last night – according to Eurowings, the US Border Force denied the landing in Seattle due to the delayed departure in Cologne https://t.co/UAq96LJK65 pic.twitter.com/wO5PD3sj96
— International Flight Network (@FlightIntl) September 25, 2018
Approximately five hours after departure, the pilots were instructed to make a U-turn over Greenland and head back to Cologne: “Due to the delayed departure in Cologne, the US Border Force denied the landing in Seattle“, the German low-cost carrier announced on Twitter. The airline also admitted that its operation center was informed about the problem after two hours flight time. Because of the late departure, no U.S. Customs & Border Protection personnel would be available after landing.
On Saturday, Eurowings had to cancel its flight between Cologne and Seattle as well. Passengers were rebooked on alternative flights (e.g. with Lufthansa) or on the said Eurowings flight on Monday.
🇺🇸 is calling! Today we operated our inaugural flight to #Seattle. 🙌 🎉✈️ #ColognetoSeattle pic.twitter.com/4xFGzJdgmd
— Eurowings (@eurowings) July 11, 2017
The route between Cologne and Seattle was started in July 2017. SunExpress Germany is operating the flights on behalf of Eurowings using Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
Nick Wenzel founded International Flight Network in 2016. He is the Social Media Manager and an Editor for IFN.news.
