Jet2 cancelled all flights to Spain amid the coronavirus crisis with planes forced to turn around mid-air, in a escalation of the health crisis sweeping across the world. Spain has seen a huge increase in infections of the past couple of days.
At least five flights heading to Spain from the UK did a U-turn this morning. Planes heading to Alicante from Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds and East Midlands were among those turned around this morning.
In a statement Jet2 said: “We have taken the decision to cancel all flights to Mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands with immediate effect.
“We know these local measures will have a significant impact on our customers’ holidays which is why we have taken this decision.
“We are contacting our customers who are currently in these destinations, and who are due to travel, to advise them of their options, so we urge customers not to call us.
“This is a fast-moving and complex situation and we are reviewing our programme as a matter of urgency, so that we can fly customers back to the UK.
“The health and safety of our customers is our number one priority, and we would like to thank our customers for their understanding.”
Spanish air traffic controllers had earlier tweeted about the flights seemingly being turned around saying: “It seems that the Jet2 company had ordered several flights to Spanish airports to return.
“The reason for this measure is unknown.”