A British Airways flight to nowhere went across the Atlantic before turning back and flying 2,300 miles home after a technical issue

In a statement shared with Business Insider, a British Airways spokesperson said the flight returned “as a precaution due to a minor technical issue.”

“We’ve apologized to our customers for the disruption to their journey,” they added.

British Airways has also rebooked them onto the next available flights, provided hotels, and details on how to claim for other expenses.

Going all the way back across the Atlantic may seem like a strange decision, but the problem was minor enough to allow it to reach Heathrow, where BA has a maintenance facility.

For both passengers and the airline, that’s likely preferable to a diversion to northern Canada.

Last December, Delta Air Lines sent three jets to rescue passengers from a remote military base in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The flight had diverted there following a technical issue, but freezing conditions and limits on how long the flight crews could work left passengers stranded there for over 24 hours. The 270 passengers stayed overnight at the military barracks.

In a similar incident, an Air France flight from Paris to Seattle was forced to divert to Canada’s far north last month. Another flight had to be canceled in order to rescue the passengers from Iqaluit, the capital of Canada’s Nunavut territory, which has a population of less than 8,000.