A Ryanair flight travelling from Edinburgh to Portugal was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Sevilla on Monday after suffering a technical problem.
Operations at Sevilla Airport were temporarily suspended for almost half an hour, between 12.10pm and 12.38pm, to allow the aircraft to land as a priority.
The Ryanair flight had departed Edinburgh in Scotland and was heading for Faro, Portugal, when the crew encountered what the airline described as a ‘minor technical issue’.
The disruption forced two other passenger flights bound for Sevilla to divert elsewhere.
According to Spanish airport operator Aena, flights arriving from Tenerife and Paris were redirected to Jerez Airport in Cadiz province while the incident was being dealt with.
Ryanair said the affected aircraft subsequently landed normally in Sevilla.
Emergency services were waiting for the plane on arrival in accordance with standard procedures, while passengers were able to disembark.
The aircraft was then inspected by Ryanair engineers.
The airline said it arranged onward transportation for those on board rather than continuing the journey by air.
‘To get passengers to their final destination as quickly as possible, we arranged alternative transport from Sevilla to Faro Airport,’ Ryanair said.
The incident also caused delays to some departures and arrivals scheduled during the temporary shutdown.
However, Aena described the delays as ‘not significant’ and confirmed that no flights were cancelled as a result.
Normal operations gradually resumed after the airport reopened at around 12.38pm.
The incident comes amid a disruptive few days for air passengers in southern Spain.
On Sunday night, an unidentified drone spotted near the end of runway 12 at Malaga Airport forced arriving aircraft to hold or divert, with several flights sent to other airports including Sevilla.
A day earlier, a Eurowings flight from Malaga to Stuttgart was forced to return to the Costa del Sol airport after its crew reported a possible problem with the aircraft’s landing gear.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
