UNITED KINGDOM: EasyJet Flight From Newcastle To Bristol Diverted To Birmingham Due To Technical Problems.

The 6am flight from Newcastle to Bristol had to land in Birmingham after a “technical issue” on board.

It had only been in the air for several minutes before passengers were told the plane was diverting.

One passenger, who did not want to be named, said it was believed smoke had entered the cockpit.

The traveller said: "I heard someone mentioning smoke in the cockpit but other than that we weren't told what was happening and couldn't smell smoke of anything.

"But the staff were absolutely brilliant. One or two people were nervous but they kept everyone totally calm throughout.

"The flight was packed but the pilots and flight attendants did really well."

An EasyJet spokesman said the diversion was to ensure the safety of passengers.

An EasyJet spokesman confirmed the diversion, saying: easyJet can confirm that flight EZY565 from Newcastle to Bristol diverted to Birmingham due to a technical issue.

Upon landing the aircraft was met by the fire brigade as a precaution only.

All passengers were disembarked normally and engineers are investigating. Passengers were transported to Bristol by coach.

At no point of was the safety of the passengers and crew compromised and the diversion was a precautionary measure only.

The safety of its passengers and crew is easyJet's top priority and easyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with all manufacturers' guidelines.

We apologise for any inconvenience experienced due to the diversion and resulting delay.


Tourism Observer

UNITED KINGDOM: Jet2 Unveils 57 Weekly Flights From Birmingham Airport

Jet2.com and Jet2holidays is to begin flying from Birmingham airport for the first time with the introduction of 57 weekly flights to 15 destinations.

Birmingham will become the operator and airline’s eighth base in the UK.

Destinations on sale for summer 2017 include Alicante, Crete (Heraklion), Faro, Fuerteventura, Girona (Costa Brava), Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Majorca, Malaga, Menorca, Paphos, Reus, Rhodes and Tenerife.

The flights will operate on four of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays’ new Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

The first flights from Birmingham will take off on March 30 to Faro and Malaga.

The airline already flies out of Belfast International, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Manchester and Newcastle.

The company said the move will create more than 200 jobs in the region.

Jet2.com and Jet2holidays chief executive, Steve Heapy, said: “This is an incredibly exciting day for us as we announce our expansion into our eighth UK airport base, providing further growth and investment for the region.

“It’s fantastic to be bringing our friendly low fares, great value package holidays, plus our brand new aircraft to Birmingham Airport.

“This is our most significant programme launch for some time, giving local travel agents a choice of 15 of the most popular sunshine destinations, including eleven Spanish hotspots, two Greek islands, plus Paphos and the sunny Algarve.

“We’re thrilled that even more of our agents’ customers can now experience our award winning flights and holidays and we look forward to our first flights taking off next year.”

Alistair Rowland, group general manager at Midcounties Co-operative Travel, welcomed the news.

“This is great news for the Midlands and our loyal customers who already love Jet2.com and Jet2holidays. We already send tens of thousands of our customers from East Midlands with them and look forward to the new Birmingham routes offering more choice and great value.

“Our partnership is already very strong and we look forward to working even closer in the future with Jet2.com and Jet2holidays and our number one airport in Birmingham.”