Overview

• The flight departed Manchester shortly after 6 pm before turning back roughly 30 minutes into the journey over the English Channel.
• The aircraft landed at London Gatwick, with passengers rebooked onto a separate service to Alicante scheduled for around 9 pm.
• EasyJet issued an apology, citing a passenger welfare issue and classifying the diversion as an extraordinary circumstance.
• The airline has not released further details about the nature of the welfare issue.
• FlightRadar24 data reported by local media showed the jet tracking south over Birmingham and the south coast before looping over the Channel.