A flight from Edinburgh to Tenerife was forced to divert to Portugal after a ‘disgraceful’ passenger was seen vaping and behaving disruptively on board.
The Jet2 flight, LS727, had departed from Edinburgh Airport at 8.15am on Friday and was due to travel directly to Tenerife South Airport.
However, flight radar24 showed that the budget airline was forced to divert to Porto Santo airport in Madeira, more than 530 kilometers away, so that the passenger could be removed by the police.
Video of the flight has since emerged showing a man allegedly under the influence of alcohol stumbling in the aisle of the plane while being spoken to by flight attendants.
The man was dressed all in black and had a bag strap slung across his chest.
A flight from Edinburgh to Tenerife was forced to divert to Porto Santo after a fuming passenger began behaving disruptively
The passenger, who was reportedly under the influence of alcohol, was escorted from the plane by about five Portuguese officers
In another clip of the incident, five Portuguese officials are seen escorting the man off the plane, while other passengers cheer, clap and chant “cheerio.”
One eyewitness said the man was “acting like a ***” and “was vaping as soon as we left,” reports Edinburgh Live.
Another added: ‘Later he limped down the aisle. He looked completely exhausted.”
Another passenger on the flight said: ‘What a start to our holiday! Jet2 staff handled the situation very well!
“Walking up and down the aisle during landing and threatening the staff… arrested on the tarmac!”
Another eyewitness told it Edinburgh Evening News that the passengers on board the flight were ‘terrified by the offensive behavior of a man on board’.
“He was drunk walking down the aisles because the flight crew couldn’t control him. He threatened anyone who came near him,” she added.
‘At one point he inappropriately touched a flight attendant and that was the final straw. Police were waiting to arrest him when the fight broke out.”
Jet2 has since spoken out following the ordeal, saying their ‘colleagues and customers should never be treated in this way’.
A Jet2 spokesperson said: ‘Flight LS727 from Edinburgh to Tenerife was diverted to Porto Santo yesterday so police could offload a disruptive passenger.
‘The passenger in question has behaved disgracefully and as a family-friendly airline we have a zero-tolerance policy towards such behaviour.
“Our colleagues and customers should never have to face this type of behavior and we would like to thank our crew for the way they handled this difficult situation.
“We will fully support the authorities in any subsequent investigations and we will not hesitate to recover any losses incurred as a result of this diversion.
‘We are pleased to say that the flight to Tenerife has continued and we wish everyone on board a happy holiday.’
The spokesperson added that the man is now banned from flying with the budget airline for life after the incident.