Private jet blocking Tenerife runway sparks flight diversion nightmare for thousands of passengers

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thousands of passengers had their flights diverted and delayed after a private jet blocked the runway at the main airport in Tenerife. The relatively fortunate passengers – from Birmingham and Manchester on Ryanair and from Norwich on Tui, ended up at Tenerife North airport – an hour away by road from the main southern airport. As it was, the passengers flew to Las Palmas, waited around for a couple of hours and finally reached Tenerife four hours late. “We are making every effort to get customers to their destination and any customers whose flights are disrupted due to the impact of the runway closure are being notified and provided with options to rebook or receive a refund as well as hotel accommodation and meals where needed.” Separately, British Airways passengers from Mauritius to London Gatwick finally arrived back in the UK late on Thursday night – 16 hours behind schedule, following a technical fault on the Boeing 777 aircraft.