Ryanair flight from Newcastle to Paphos diverts to Athens

The flight, on Tuesday (August 8) afternoon, was forced to divert to Athens in Greece after a passenger on board became unwell.

Flight tracking data shows the plane, a Boeing 737, left Newcastle Airport shortly after 2pm bound for the Paphos in Cyprus.

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But around three hours into the journey as it was passing over southern Europe the flight, codenamed FR427, changed course and landed at the Greek capital of Athens half an hour later.

The passenger was met by medics upon arrival at Athens Airport.

A short time later, at around 10pm local time, the plane took off again and completed its journey to Cyprus.

A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “This flight from Newcastle to Paphos (8 Aug) diverted to Athens when a passenger became ill on board.

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“The aircraft landed normally and medics met the passenger on arrival at Athens Airport before continuing on to Paphos a short time later.”

It comes just a week after a TUI flight from Newcastle to Cancun was forced to divert to Glasgow shortly after take-off due to "weather conditions" which means the plane required an extra fuelling stop.

Earlier this year a crew member on a TUI flight fell ill and the plane was forced to return to Tyneside.