Flight disruption after light aircraft 'incident'

Passengers have been warned to expect delays while the incident is dealt with

Flights to and from the Isle of Man have been disrupted due to an “incident involving a small general aviation aircraft” on one of the runways.

The incident happened at about 16:00 BST in the area of the main runway, sparking a turnout by the emergency services, rendering it "unusable" by other planes.

While both runways had to be closed for a time to allow the “disabled” aircraft to be recovered, they reopened at about 20:20 after it was removed using on-site machinery.

Airport authorities said while it “may take some time for flights to arrive”, the runways were again open for operation.

During the disruption commercial flights operating smaller aircraft had been able to use the shorter runway after initial delays to assess the situation, however the schedules for larger planes had “regrettably” been affected, they said.

Passengers waiting to board flights had been warned that in order to facilitate journeys being made by the smaller aircraft, “we may need to move some passengers back from the departure lounge to keep the terminal operating”.

While some flights were diverted or cancelled, several others had been delayed.