Two flights bound for Edinburgh Airport were forced to redirect to Glasgow in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Ryanair and Jet2 passengers landed at the other end of the M8 around 3am, due to "planned runway maintenance" at Edinburgh Airport.
Fuming travellers on the Ryanair flight from Malaga claimed that no ground assistance was offered for two hours after their landing while Jet2 passengers arriving from Tenerife were also affected.
An Edinburgh Airport spokesperson said the maintenance was scheduled to have minimal disruption to passengers, and originally only impacted the Jet2 flight from Tenerife.
However, the Ryanair flight was delayed by three hours before departure, and was therefore forced to land in Glasgow as well, Edinburgh Live reports.
"Planned runway maintenance was carried out and resulted in two flights being diverted," an Edinburgh Airport spokesperson said.
Passengers vented frustrations on Twitter after landing in Glasgow, and one man claimed Ryanair did not offer ground transport from Glasgow for two hours after landing. According to a Jet2 passenger, the airline offered coach transport to Edinburgh at 3:30am.
A Jet2 spokesperson said: “Flight LS728 from Tenerife to Edinburgh diverted to Glasgow this morning due to planned runway maintenance taking place at Edinburgh Airport. This diversion was communicated to customers ahead of departure and all customers were offered ground transportation from Glasgow Airport to Edinburgh.”
A spokesperson at Glasgow Airport confirmed that two flights were diverted from Edinburgh, and added that diverts "are not uncommon at airports, which is worth keeping in mind."
A Ryanair spokesperson said : "This flight from Malaga to Edinburgh (26 July) was delayed ahead of take-off due to a technical issue.
"Ryanair quickly arranged a replacement aircraft in order to minimise disruption to passengers, however as a result of the delay in departure, the runway at Edinburgh Airport subsequently closed and Ryanair was forced to divert to Glasgow Airport instead.
"Ryanair sincerely apologises to affected passengers, who can claim for any out of pocket expenses on Ryanair.com.”
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