BA passengers diverted to Malaga and then to Sevilla airports say it was a ‘nightmare journey’

Both British Airways flights from Heathrow to Gibraltar were diverted to Sevilla due to poor weather on Tuesday, with the earlier outgoing flight cancelled.

Passengers told GBC a straight forward journey had become a 13+ hour nightmare.

BA said it was sorry for the disruption, which it said was due to the thunderstorms in Gibraltar. The pilot twice attempted to land here and had to abort both times.

Passengers were also reportedly told the radar at the airport is broken and the airport had to close as a result, meaning they couldn’t attempt further landings here after stopping in Malaga.

We heard Isabella say the passengers were told the radar was broken. That radar is maintained and operated by the Ministry of Defence.

In answer to GBC questions, an MOD spokesperson said adverse weather conditions are affecting the air traffic radar.

It says engineers will be dispatched to investigate when it is safe to do so.

The MOD says the Gibraltar Airport remains open and Air Traffic Control remain in place.

Meanwhile, British Airways said its teams are in touch to provide customers with rebooking options.

GBC understands the airline may be adding additional capacity from surrounding airports tomorrow to help customers get away as quickly as possible.

In response to GBC questions, the Government says it understands that diversions to Sevilla fall within contingency plans for Malaga Airport, and that these were necessary because of resourcing issues following the Iberia Ground Handling strike.

BA says Tuesday afternoon's outgoing BA flight has been delayed overnight and the airline plans to operate this flight on Wednesday.