SHANGHAI — Hundreds of passengers on an Emirates Airbus A380 flight from Dubai to Shanghai endured a 10-hour ordeal after bad weather forced the aircraft to divert to Hangzhou, where a series of technical and operational problems left them stranded on board.

The incident was reported by the South China Morning Post, which said the world’s largest passenger aircraft had arrived at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport last week as a rare sight for aviation enthusiasts there, but the diversion quickly turned into a lengthy disruption for those on board.

Emirates Flight EK302 was approaching Shanghai Pudong International Airport after around seven hours in the air when thunderstorms made landing conditions unsafe, prompting the crew to redirect the aircraft to Hangzhou.

The 373 passengers and crew members were eventually kept on the aircraft for 17 hours, with the time spent waiting on the tarmac exceeding the duration of the original flight from Dubai.

The crew initially planned to wait for weather conditions at Pudong to improve before continuing the journey, meaning immigration arrangements for passengers at Hangzhou were not immediately activated.

However, reports citing passenger accounts said the delay eventually exceeded the crew’s legal flight duty limits, requiring Emirates to arrange a replacement team to operate the aircraft.

Under aviation regulations, multi-pilot crews are restricted in how long they can remain on duty before they must rest and cannot begin another flight.