On March 16, 2020, Air France Flight AF1146 took off from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) in France, en route to Warsaw Poland. As it was already crossing Poland, nearing its destination, the flight made a sharp U-turn, before heading back for landing in France.
The Air France flight, operated with an Airbus A319, took off at 10 am, only to spend over 3 hours in the air before returning to the very same airport from which it departed. The strange flight was captured by flightradar24.com.
While the official reason for the strange AF1146 flight path is unknown, Polish media reports suggest it could have been an empty flight, sent to repatriate French citizens from Warsaw to France. AeroTime News has reached out to Air France for comment.
On March 15, 2020, Poland closed its borders for foreign citizens as part of the country’s measures to contain the coronavirus COVID-19 spread. On that day, Air France flight AF1146 from Paris to Warsaw was canceled. AF1146 flights on March 17-19 are also currently canceled, based on flightradar24.com data.
On March 16, 2020, Air France revealed it was gradually cutting its flight by 90% due to a growing list of travel restrictions and a strong fall in ticket sales.
Air France flight #AF1146 from Paris to Warsaw made a U-turn just before starting its descent into Warsaw and is now returning to Parishttps://t.co/Cai3H3sI5b
Reason is currently unknown pic.twitter.com/mjI67EXTLy
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) March 16, 2020