EasyJet flights: Police board flight after it lands at Manchester Airport over 'abusive and threatening' passenger

Police boarded an easyJet flight from Belfast to Manchester due to a “disruptive” passenger who became “abusive and threatening” mid-flight. The incident occurred at around 11.30pm on Sunday (2 June) with police boarding the plane as soon as it was on the tarmac at Terminal 1 at Manchester Airport. 

A man was filmed being escorted from the cabin by several police officers shortly after the plane touched down. According to a fellow passenger, the unruly man interrupted the safety briefing and was denied alcohol for the duration of the one-hour flight, reports the Manchester Evening News.

The eyewitness called the flight “unbearable” and said that the disruptive passenger “kept talking really loudly” and “swearing” throughout the “nightmare” flight. An easyJet spokesperson said: “easyJet can confirm that flight EZY708 from Belfast to Manchester yesterday was met by police on arrival due to a passenger behaving disruptively onboard.

“easyJet’s cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time. Whilst such incidents are rare we take them very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour onboard. 

“The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always easyJet’s priority.” Full details of the passenger’s behaviour have not yet been revealed by authorities.

The incident comes after a 28-year-old British man has been arrested for trying to open the doors of a plane mid-flight. The incident occurred at around 9.25pm on Thursday (30 May) on an EasyJet flight from London Gatwick to Alicante in Spain.

The Canarian Weekly reports that the control tower at Alicante-Elche Airport received an alert informing them that a passenger was drunk, had started fighting with other passengers on the plane, and then tried to open the plane doors. According to the report, he was so drunk he didn’t realise the plane was still in the air and tried to open the door so he could “get off quicker” and then tried to access the cabin. 

A flight attendant tried to stop him and he assaulted a member of the cabin crew in the process. Following the alert, the flight path was cleared so the plane had priority landing and the Guardia Civil were waiting on the runway.