Five passengers on a London–Gibraltar flight were detained at Malaga Airport on Sunday and later returned to the UK, it has emerged.
The decision was made after Spanish authorities found irregularities with their Schengen visas, according to Gibraltar’s public broadcaster GBC.
The easyJet flight departed from Gatwick Airport in the morning, but adverse weather conditions meant it was unable to land on the Rock and was diverted to Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport.
Once on Spanish soil, border checks revealed that several passengers did not meet Schengen entry requirements.
As a result, they were prevented from continuing their journey and were subsequently sent back to the UK – despite the fact that their original destination was a UK overseas territory.
It is not clear if the passengers were made to use the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES), which is currently being rolled out at Malaga Airport.
Gibraltar Airport is particularly vulnerable to disruption as it is exposed to strong crosswinds, meaning flights are regularly diverted to Malaga, especially during the winter months.
This arrangement, authorised by Spain, allows airlines to avoid cancelling flights and paying compensation, accommodation and meal costs to passengers.
However, the system creates complications for Spain due to the unexpected arrivals of non-EU passengers at Malaga requiring extra passport control resources from the Policia Nacional.
Passengers are also transported by road from Malaga to Gibraltar, creating opportunities for some travellers to remain illegally within the Schengen area, which has happened on previous occasions.
It means that all diverted passengers are subject to standard Spanish entry checks at Malaga. The difficulty is that these flights are not scheduled arrivals.
Spanish police do not receive passenger lists in advance, meaning people without valid documentation may be on board.
In diverted cases, airlines may also refuse responsibility for returning passengers to their point of origin.
Authorities have also highlighted the lack of guarantees over what happens to passengers once they pass document checks at Malaga or at the Gibraltar border.
From that moment, they are no longer under police supervision, and there is no certainty that they board the buses intended to take them to Gibraltar or back to Malaga.
The incident once again exposes the legal and logistical grey area created by Gibraltar flight diversions.
