Manchester Airport: Police storm SunExpress flight from Manchester to Turkey after aircraft diverts to Serbia due to 'unruly passenger'

Police stormed a plane from Manchester Airport due to an “unruly passenger”. The plane from Manchester to Dalaman in Turkey was forced to divert on Tuesday night (10 April) due to the passengers.

The SunExpress flight took off just before 7.30pm but had to change course when the passenger became disruptive. The decision was made by the cabin crew to divert over 700 miles away to Belgrade in Serbia. Local police removed the “unruly passenger” after landing around 10.30pm.

The plane then resumed its journey to Dalaman. FlightRadar24 shows the aircraft's diversion near Sarajevo and its circling pattern before finally landing.

A spokesperson for SunExpress stated: "Our flight XQ505, which was scheduled from Manchester to Dalaman on 9th April, had to divert to Belgrade due to an unruly passenger."

They told the Manchester Evening News: "Upon arrival, the passenger was removed from the aircraft by local police and the aircraft continued to Dalaman after the passenger's disembarkation. The safety and security of our passengers and crew is of the highest priority to SunExpress."

The incident comes after armed police boarded a holiday flight at Manchester Airport on Monday 11 March and arrested a suspect moments after it touched down. Passengers watched in shock as a man was escorted off the plane.

The incident happened when the TUI flight TOM2103 landed at Manchester Airport. The flight had travelled three hours and 40 minutes from Madeira and arrived at Terminal 2. Armed police based at Manchester Airport boarded the Boeing 737 as soon as the aircraft had landed.

Greater Manchester Police has confirmed that officers escorted a man off the jet and arrested him in connection with a warrant for an offence in Derbyshire. There was no incident during the flight.