Lack of engineers at Gibraltar airport forces EasyJet temporary diversion to Malaga

A lack of engineers caused the EasyJet Manchester flight to temporarily divert to Malaga on Saturday night.

This has been confirmed by EasyJet in answer to GBC questions.

The airline says technical issues meant the flight required an inspection.

EasyJet told GBC "the diversion was because there were no engineers able to assist with such issues in Gibraltar." 

EasyJet says staff in Malaga inspected the aircraft and gave it clearance to fly shortly afterward. GBC understands passengers were not allowed to get off the flight during this time. 

Once cleared, the flight continued to Gibraltar.

It arrived on the rock almost two hours after its scheduled time. 

The airline apologises to all passengers for any inconvenience caused by the diversion and subsequent delay.

Government response

In answer to GBC questions, the Government has highlighted each airline is responsible for providing the engineering support required by their aircraft. Number Six told GBC the airline decides which airport it will go to for this, adding it's usually a larger airport as this is where most of their engineering support is located - not smaller ones. 

The Government told GBC it has no influence on this or any other maintenance or engineering related issues. It says engineering support is completely out of its remit and is for the airline to provide.

The Government says Sunday saw over 1,000 passengers land at the airport, describing this as as a clear, tangible demonstration of high interest in Gibraltar and its airport as a destination.