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Non-Spanish residency or visa passengers were told they were being flown back to the UK and ordered to stay on the plane in an incident that was slammed as ‘shambolic’
Furious passengers mutinied and walked off a diverted plane after being told they were being banned from entering Spain and were to be flown straight back to Luton.
There were chaotic scenes onboard easyJet flight EZY8793 when it arrived at Malaga airport late on Monday evening after bad weather prevented it landing in Gibraltar. After being held onboard for two hours passengers were told only those with “Spanish residency or visas” would be allowed off “because of Brexit.”
All others would be kept onboard the plane and then transferred to another jet and flown back to Luton. Jay Pedersen, 37, from Stourport, said: “It was shambolic. They kept telling us buses were coming in “ten minutes” but they never showed.
“Eventually the cabin crew, who were doing their best, made an announcement saying there would be two groups – those with British passports were being kept onboard and flown back to Luton. It was like they were keeping us hostage. But quite a lot of British people at the front did manage to get off despite being told they couldn’t. It was like a polite British ‘mutiny’.
“When we got to passport control our passports were stamped and we were allowed through without any problems whatsoever. I can’t believe how calm everyone stayed.”
Douglas Atkins, 74, from Solihull added: “There was only one guy aboard – who must have been a doctor – who raised his voice shouting: ‘I’ve got a patient to see I’m getting off.’ He was one of 30 or so who successfully got to the terminal.”
The plane had attempted to land at Gibraltar but bad weather meant the pilot aborted the landing just 900 feet from the runway. He then made the decision to divert to Malaga.
Douglas added: “The crew were young but doing as well as they could as they were clearly getting instructions from their HQ. No one could understand why we weren’t allowed to get off and be taken by buses to Gibraltar.” The passengers who successfully got off took taxis, costing up too 200 euros a time, for the two hour drive to Gibraltar.
EasyJet was contacted for comment.
