A flight from Heathrow is reported to have made an emergency landing after the crew noticed an unusual smell coming from the galley.
Flight LX325, a Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) flight, was travelling from London to Zurich when it diverted and made an emergency landing with 168 passengers and six crew on board.
There were no initial problems, asied from a delay to the takeoff, experienced in the early part of the flight on April 6 and the A320neo aircraft climbed to a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet.
Over Belgian airspace, however, the flight crew transmitted a Squawk 7700 code. This is the international sign for a general emergency.
When the flight was around 30 nautical miles southwest of the Belgian capital of Brussels, the crew reported an indication of a possible fire, according to The Aviation Herald. Concerns of a fire may have been raised by an unusual odour in the front galley.
The flight was diverted to Brussels and landed around 20 minutes later. All passengers and crew were able to safely disembark, and passengers were taken to hotels.
SWISS told The Standard that the aircraft is currently being inspected in Brussels, but it was “unfortunately not possible to say when it will return to Zurich”.
The airline said an “unusual smell” was the cause of the diversion and ruled out a fire.
A spokesperson said: “Due to an unusual smell detected in the forward galley, the crew of flight LX325 decided to carry out an unscheduled landing in Brussels. The flight was en route from London to Zurich. The landing was uneventful, and passengers disembarked the aircraft via the regular procedures. As a precautionary measure, airport fire services were called to the scene, which is standard protocol in such situations.”
They added: “We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers by this unscheduled landing. We fully understand that such a situation causes uncertainty, delays and additional effort for the travellers.
All of the passengers affected have been able to continue their journey, SWISS also said.
It comes as the war in the Middle East has impacted around 17,000 bookings, according to Lastminute.com.
The travel agent said holidaymakers are looking for destinations like the Canary Islands and Sardinia after the US-Israeli war with Iran led to disruption.
Lastminute said consumers had been looking for flexibility and reassurance in their plans. There has been an increase in demand for alternative destinations in the Italian islands of Italy and Sardinia, the Spanish Canary and Balearic Islands and city breaks in Europe.
Flights to Gulf states such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were cancelled after the war escalated at the end of February.
Lastminute’s chief executive Alessandro Petazzi said: “We continue to closely monitor the evolving situation in the Middle East, with supporting our customers remaining our top priority.
“At the same time, Lastminute.com’s flexible, pan-European model enables us to adapt quickly as travel patterns evolve, with demand naturally rebalancing across destinations.”
The company, based in the Netherlands, reported a 15% jump in revenues for the 2025 financial year. It said it was remaining “vigilant” against the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, but that it was sticking to forecasts of around a 10% increase in revenues and profits in the year ahead.
Low-cost airline Wizz Air, which runs flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, said it flew 5.51 million passengers in March this year. This was up 8.4% compared to the same month in 2025.
Ryanair said the 15.8 million passengers it flew in March were a 5% increase on the same month the year prior.
