Jet2 flight diverted after ‘drunk passenger carried off flight’

A drunk passenger on a Jet2 flight had to be restrained after he allegedly abused members of the cabin crew, forcing the plane to divert.

The flight from Glasgow to Dalaman, in Turkey, was rerouted on Tuesday after a passenger put on a “disgraceful and aggressive” display, Jet2 said.

The airline said the passenger behaved in “such an appalling fashion” that the crew had “no choice” but to divert to Sofia Airport in Bulgaria, where police offloaded him.

It said the man was physically and verbally aggressive, which led to him having to be restrained whilst the aircraft diverted.

One passenger onboard the Turkey-bound flight described the scenes as “scary”.

The passenger, who was travelling with family, told Glasgow Live: “A passenger was out of their head, he was drunk and being abusive towards the cabin crew. He started causing danger.

“There was a load of commotion and the crew were visibly shaken up. The diversion caused a rapid descent into Sofia airport, it was scary.”

After police boarded to offload the passenger, the aircraft took off to Dalaman again. Jet2 confirmed this caused a two-hour delay to landing.

The airline has said the passenger will be banned from flying with Jet2 for life.

Phil Ward, managing director of Jet2, the passenger “behaved in a disgraceful fashion, causing unnecessary distress to others onboard”.

“As a family friendly airline we take a zero tolerance approach to this behaviour, and we would like to apologise to other customers and our colleagues for any upset caused.”

He added: “Thankfully, the vast majority of customers enjoy their flights and have a lovely holiday, and we will continue to work hard to provide our VIP Customer service for them as always.

“Unfortunately a tiny minority act in an appalling fashion and our message to them is clear – there are serious consequences to disruptive passenger behaviour and we will not hesitate to take action to stamp it out.”