Passengers have described the "very scary" situation on board a Dublin Airport bound Aer Lingus flight as the plane "ran low on fuel".
The EI779 flight from Lanzarote on Wednesday night was forced to divert to Shannon, with passengers saying an "announcement was made on-board on what to do if an evacuation was needed".
One passenger took to social media to slam the "utter chaos". They claimed that the diversion happened because there was no free runway at Dublin that was big enough to take the plane.
READ MORE: Man buys flight ticket to find lost luggage at Dublin Airport
The passenger said: "Flight delayed, takes off 2hrs late, gets as far as Bray, but there's no runway big enough free to take the plane.
"They don't have enough fuel to circle so have to divert to Shannon....all at 2am. They have to wait to refuel and take off for Dublin again and hope the runway is free this time.
"To Shannon Airports' credit, refuelling happened fairly quickly and the rerouted flight arrived in Dublin at 4am. It was still an unwelcome worry for those involved and for family waiting, unaware of what was going on."
Another passenger said: "There was an announcement on approach to Shannon about what to do if an evacuation is needed. The plane was very low on fuel."
A third said: "Was very scary. Most thought plane had serious issue at that stage as wasn't clear what was going on."
An Aer Lingus spokeswoman told Dublin Live that the aircraft was leased from and operated by Spanish airline Privilege Style.
She said: "Due to crew illness and operational challenges, we have leased an aircraft from Privilege Style to operate on our behalf and minimise disruption to our customers’ travel plans. The Privilege Style aircraft and company meet all safety requirements set by both Aer Lingus and the Irish Aviation Authority.
"Aer Lingus flight EI779, which was operated by Privilege Style on behalf of Aer Lingus, from Lanzarote to Dublin Wednesday evening (20 July), was diverted to Shannon for operational reasons but then continued to Dublin, arriving less than 2 hours behind schedule. We apologise to those customers impacted for the delay."
Sign up for the Dublin Live newsletter to get the latest breaking news straight to your inbox
READ NEXT:
- Dublin Airport: Representatives want soldiers to be paid €104 extra for every day they carry out security duty
- Dublin Airport: Over 2.3 million passengers last month as operators say army will be on standby
- Rooftop bar overlooking Dublin Airport runway to open this weekend
- Ryanair flight prices set to soar as CEO Michael O'Leary slams Brexit as 'height of idiocy'
- Dublin Airport: Soldiers ordered on 500km round trip for security work
