HOLIDAYMAKERS were hit with major delays on their way to Spain after pilots diverted their plane to London.

 

Around 200 passengers were on board Thomas Cook flight TCX3126 from Glasgow Airport when it developed a technical fault yesterday.

The pilots circled the Boeing 757-200 over Ireland, but then eventually diverted to Gatwick Airport.

It is understood a light in the cockpit alerted the pilots and crew to the "technical issue".

Passengers finally set off from Gatwick to Fuerteventura at around 3pm yesterday.

TCX3126 took off from Glasgow at 9.20am and was scheduled to arrive in the Canary Islands at 2.20pm.

A spokesman for Thomas Cook said the aircraft diverted for "technical reasons".

The plane is understood to have used up fuel during its "holding pattern" over Ireland, so that it would be lighter when it landed.

A Thomas Cook spokesman said: "The TCX3126, Glasgow to Fuerteventura service, diverted to Gatwick Airport for technical reasons.

"The Boeing 757-200 aircraft was carrying around 200 customers.

"The aircraft landed safely and passengers boarded a replacement plane, which left Gatwick at around 3pm."

Meanwhile,thousands of Easter travellers had their plans disrupted due to an air strike by French air traffic controllers.

Ryanair had to scrap more than 250 flights yesterday, while easyJet axed as many as 198 services.

The easyJet axings included 52 services either departing or arriving at UK airports, while around 70 of Ryanair's cancelled flights were UK or Irish ones.

EasyJet said that it was cancelling 194 flights today of which 48 were either leaving or arriving at UK airports.

British Airways, which put on bigger planes on some routes, and Flybe were among other carriers that had to cancel flights.

Ryanair said: "We sincerely apologise to all customers affected by this unwarranted strike action and we call on the EU and French authorities to take measures to prevent any further disruption.

"It's grossly unfair that thousands of European travellers will once again have their travel plans disrupted by the selfish actions of a tiny number of French air traffic control workers."

At Glasgow Airport, a new listening squawk service has been launched to improve safety and communication with pilots and air traffic control.

Pilots will now be able to tune in and listen to air traffic controllers based on the ground, while allowing the controllers to see the aircraft's details on their radar displays.

The service will help boost airspace infringements by General Aviation (GA) pilots and improve safety.