Bristol Airport delays: Plane comes off runway sparking Christmas travel chaos

The incident caused travel disruption as the runway was closed (file photo)
PA

All Bristol Airport flights were halted after a plane came off the runway, causing travel disruption for thousands of people embarking on the Christmas getaway.

The Embraer 145 jet, which was carrying 25 people, left the runway while taxiing towards the terminal just after 11.30am on Friday.

There were no injuries and the plane, which had flown in from Frankfurt, Germany, was towed to an aircraft stand, an airport spokeswoman said.

At least 60 flights were cancelled or diverted while specialist equipment was brought in to remove the plane.

Disruption lasted throughout the day as the incident forced the airport to shut the runway into the evening.

Michael Harrison, 27, was scheduled to land at Bristol before the pilot announced mid-air they were being diverted to East Midlands Airport - around 140 miles away.

The bar worker, who was coming back from a holiday in Krakow, Poland, said: "I'm standing around now with very little direction.

"Apparently buses are coming to take us to Bristol, but that's going to take me another three hours at least.

"I probably made a mistake going on an all-nighter last night."

Dave Joyce, who was due to fly to Javea, Spain, with his family, said his plane was diverted away from the airport.

The 53-year-old finance worker said: "Nothing's moving at the minute and we haven't had any information at all.

"People keep coming but nobody's leaving, so it's all getting pretty crowded just now.

"We've got seats in a restaurant, so we're OK, but my wife's mother is in a wheelchair."

Mr Joyce added: "A great start to the Christmas break ... Javea seems a long way away now."

An airport spokesman said: "The runway remains closed whilst the aircraft is towed to an aircraft stand before flights can resume.

"While it is too early to speculate about the cause of the incident, we are confident that it was not related to the low visibility conditions experienced.

"Additional staff are on hand in the terminal to assist passengers.

"We're sorry for the disruption and flight cancellations experienced and fully appreciate it is frustrating."

Friday is one of the busiest days of the year for travel as people fly to spend Christmas with family and friends.

Over 190,000 people are due to travel through the airport between Friday and January 1, up 5 per cent on the same two-week period 12 months ago.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT