Easyjet flight from Manchester to Tenerife is diverted to Lanzarote because of eight drunk violent passengers onboard

• Police were called to the aircraft to prevent the ‘possibility of assaults’ on board

An easyJet flight from Manchester to Tenerife was forced to divert to Lanzarote because of ‘eight violent passengers’ on board.

Spanish air traffic controllers said police were called to meet the plane due to the ‘possibility of assaults’.

Easyjet flight EZY34TV left Manchester just after 7am on Friday September 29 and touched down in Lanzarote around 1.20pm local time.

Four men on the aircraft will now be fined after being identified and reported to the Spanish Air Safety and Security Agency (AESA).

They are said to have been ‘drunk’ when they started causing problems, despite co-operating with police after the plane reached Lanzarote.

An easyjet flight from Manchester to Tenerife was forced to land in Lanzarote instead due to violent behaviour from eight passengers on board

Easyjet flight EZY34TV left Manchester just after 7am on Friday September 29 and touched down in Lanzarote around 1.20pm local time

Air traffic controllers assisted the pilot in arriving at the unintended destination.

In a post, they said: ‘The crew of a flight from Manchester to Tenerife South has informed us of the presence of eight violent passengers on board. Faced with the possibility of assaults, they have requested to divert to Lanzarote.’

They added: ‘We instructed them to a direct route and cut their approach where possible. At the same time police presence was coordinated to their arrival. We reiterate our support for air crews and passengers who have to endure these situations.’

Fines for the breaches can range from anywhere between £50 and £40,000, and troublemakers can be made to pay diversion costs and even face being banned from the airline. 

Air traffic controllers said the aircraft was diverted on request of the crew due to the possibility of assaults 

A spokesperson for easyjet said: ‘easyJet can confirm that flight EZY2011 from Manchester to Tenerife on 29 September was diverted to Lanzarote where the aircraft was met by police due to passengers behaving disruptively onboard. The flight then continued to Tenerife.

‘easyJet’s cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time.

‘Whilst such incidents are rare we take them very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour towards our crew or other passengers. We would like to apologise to the other passengers for any inconvenience caused.

‘The safety and well being of our passengers, crew, and ground agents is always easyJet’s priority.’

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