Edinburgh to Nottingham – via Jersey

Furious passengers are claiming they were hijacked by an airline after an Edinburgh-to-Nottingham service was taken on a detour to the Channel Islands. According to newspaper reports, the detour was made at the last minute by the no-frills carrier bmibaby because there were 46 passengers stranded in Jersey after their plane broke down. Some of the 89 passengers already on board the plane, which was taxiing at Edinburgh when the announcement was made, took part in a stand-up protest, but the carrier reportedly refused to allow anyone to leave the flight, claiming that it would take too long to unload their luggage. The flight eventually arrived at Nottingham three hours late. One passenger reportedly told the Daily Mail: “It seemed bmibaby would have just hijacked us and taken us wherever they thought we needed to go. We were at their mercy. We taxied around the runway for half an hour and the pilot announced that, due to some kind of unusual circumstance, we would have to go to Jersey before we went to Nottingham East Midlands.” The carrier apologised and said the decision had been taken because the Jersey passengers had already been stranded for nine hours. All 135 passengers have reportedly been offered compensation. Tony David, managing director, is quoted as saying: “We had a broken plane in Jersey and did our best to get people back. We are sorry all the passengers on the Nottingham flight arrived late. We had to do our best to get everyone to their destination.” Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad