A NORTH EAST airport has explained why scores of Leeds Bradford passengers - and an extra plane - arrived on Teesside.
Around 80 passengers, who were originally due to fly on the 5pm KLM flight from Leeds to Schiphol, were forced to take a 65-mile journey on Monday night.
Some appeared to take to social media after being informed that they would need to travel to an alternative airport to continue their journey.
Now Teesside Airport has confirmed it "welcomed" passengers from the flight after technicians identified a fault with the original aircraft.
As a result, a larger Embraer E192-E2 was flown to Teesside ahead of its role in continuing the Leeds flight, understood to be the first time this model had visited the UK.
Some reported seeing the aircraft, which is the third and largest Embraer model in the fleet, as it made its debut just a few minutes before.
A spokesperson for Teesside Airport said: “We were delighted to welcome KLM passengers from Leeds Bradford Airport last night.
“It was great to see the terminal looking busier again, which is hopefully a sign of things to come as restrictions are set to ease further and as we continue to secure new routes for our airport.
“Feedback on the terminal was very complimentary with many passengers praising the slick, quick and easy experience.”
The airport said its other flights departing within the same timeframe including the Loganair service to Aberdeen and Ryanair to Alicante were unaffected.
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