A Jet2 flight from London Stansted airport was forced to divert in mid air yesterday (Wednesday, 17 December).
Flight LS1451 departed the Essex aviation hub just before 8am for Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands.
Around 30 minutes from its destination, however, an alert required the plane to divert to Faro in Portugal.
The busy Boeing 737, which local reports suggest was carrying 179 passengers, landed in the Algarve capital shortly after 11.15am.
Emergency services, including paramedics and firefighters, were reportedly placed on standby at Faro airport, according to the Mirror.
A Jet2 spokesperson told The Independent: “The crew operating flight LS1451 from London Stansted to Fuerteventura followed standard operating procedure and elected to divert to Faro after reporting an irregular indication.
“The crew requested a priority landing and the aircraft landed safely.”
It added that a standby aircraft had been despatched to Faro to enable customers to continue their journey.
The news comes several weeks after the budget carrier announced record passenger numbers, attributing part of its success to a viral TikTok trend that saw its tagline amass over 80 billion global views across social media platforms.
The company said that its “instantly recognisable” advertising slogan featured in 11.8 million social media posts, with Jess Glynne’s track “Hold My Hand” also being named TikTok’s global Song of the Summer 2025, significantly boosting brand awareness among younger demographics.
The company welcomed 14.1 million passengers in the six months leading up to 30 September, an increase of 750,000 compared to the previous period.
Revenues hit an all-time high of £5.34bn, marking a five per cent year-on-year increase.
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