More than a dozen easyJet passengers were asked to forfeit their flight by the pilot as the aircraft was 'too heavy' before take off.
The announcement came over the tannoy just as passengers had taken their seats on a flight from Lanzarote to Liverpool on Wednesday, July 5.
Due to the plane being too heavy and adverse weather, 19 people were asked to volunteer to abandon the flight and accept a slightly later journey, with an incentive being offered in return.
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The flight was already delayed as it was supposed to leave the airport at 9.45pm but passengers were still stationary on the runway nearly two hours later, reports the Echo.
One passenger captured the moment the pilot made the announcement highlighting their concerns before the flight took off. The pilot can be heard saying: "Thank for for getting here today. Because there are so many of you it's a pretty heavy aircraft.
"That heavy aircraft combined with a pretty short runway and with the current unfavourable conditions here in Lanzarote, means the aircraft is too heavy to take off. I've been sat with my senior first officer and we're very experienced with this and have done this before.
"With safety as our number one priority, there is no way, with the current wind conditions, that we could get this aircraft airborne. There are a number of factors - it's very hot, the wind isn't fantastic, the direction isn't great.
"Now, you might be wondering what happens next and that's what I've come in here to say. I have spoken with our operations team and the one way to solve a problem with a heavy aircraft is to make it slightly lighter.
"If possible, I would like to ask up to 20 volunteers to choose not to fly to Liverpool tonight. If anyone wants to volunteer there will be an incentive. The current number we've been quoted by easyJet is up to EUR500 per passenger who is willing to not fly tonight."
Passengers in the video can be heard muttering, "I want to go home tonight" and shaking their heads. According to easyJet's flight tracker, the flight was delayed due to "poor weather conditions in Lanzarote".
The flight was due to depart at 9.45pm but did not leave until 11.24pm. It arrived at John Lennon Airport in Liverpool shortly after 3am on Thursday, July 6.
A spokesperson for the airline said: "easyJet can confirm that 19 passengers on flight EZY3364 from Lanzarote to Liverpool yesterday evening volunteered to travel on a later flight as a result of the aircraft being over the weight limits for the weather conditions.
"This is a routine operational decision in these circumstances and weight restrictions are in place for all airlines for safety reasons. In the event that a flight would exceed weight limits, we ask for passengers to volunteer to transfer to a later flight free of charge which is what happened on this occasion and volunteers are provided with compensation in line with regulations.
"The safety and welfare of our passengers and crew is always easyJet's highest priority."
