An Emirates Airbus A380 carrying 373 passengers from Dubai diverted to Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (a regional hub in eastern China) on July 22 after thunderstorms made landing at its intended destination, Shanghai Pudong International Airport, too dangerous — triggering a cascade of failures that left passengers stranded on the tarmac for over 10 hours and on board for 17 in total. The crew's legally permitted duty period expired before they could fly to Shanghai, forcing a midnight crew swap that was delayed by torrential rain, and the aircraft then developed mechanical faults including a failing air-conditioning system that caused passengers to faint and prompted police and ambulance call-outs. Emirates has since apologised and the grounded A380, which remained in Hangzhou for two days at significant cost to the airline, eventually returned to Dubai on July 24.