HOLIDAYMAKERS on a flight bound for the North East were diverted to an airport some 1,100 miles away from their intended destination due to an incident.

The Jet2 flight from Gran Canaria to Newcastle Airport had to land in Porto in Portugal after a passenger was "disruptive."

Flight number LS542, which had taken off at 9.30pm on Sunday, May 15, had been scheduled to arrive at Newcastle at around 2am.

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However, the flight diverted so that the passenger could be "offloaded" from the aircraft due to its "zero-tolerance" approach to disruptive passengers.

The Northern Echo: Picture: CONTRIBUTORPicture: CONTRIBUTOR

The airline issued a statement and said: "We can confirm that flight LS542 from Gran Canaria to Newcastle diverted to Porto this morning so that a disruptive passenger could be offloaded.

"As a family-friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive behaviour. We will not hesitate to vigorously pursue any costs incurred as a result."

The Northern Echo: Picture: FLIGHTRADAR24Picture: FLIGHTRADAR24

It comes as the airline made the headlines this week after hitting a pair of brothers with a £50,000 bill after forcing a flight from Stansted to divert to Corfu.

The London Evening Standard reported that passengers had been forced to wait on the tarmac for three hours and 45 minutes while the authorities dealt with the pair.

Phil Ward, Jet2 managing director, branded the incident as "deplorable" and "completely unacceptable."

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