East Midlands Airport issues update after TUI plane declares 'punctured tyre' emergency

A TUI plane was forced to divert to East Midlands Airport this afternoon after declaring the aircraft had a punctured tyre. East Midlands Airport said in a notice posted on social media on Monday (July 28): "We have accepted a diverted TUI aircraft from Birmingham Airport after it declared an emergency with a punctured tyre.

"It has landed safely, and all passengers have disembarked, but it is currently preventing other aircraft from taking off or landing on our runway. We are working to resolve this as quickly as possible and ask passengers arriving or departing from East Midlands this afternoon for their patience. They should contact their airlines for the latest updates."

A number of flights were delayed by up to two hours, according to the airport's website. TUI was approached for comment.

Flight information from East Midlands Airport as of 3.45pm today showed a Jet2 flight from Malaga delayed by at least two hours 15 minutes.

Another Jet2 flight from Faro scheduled to arrive at the airport for 2.25pm was expected at 4.20pm. Arrivals from Zakynthos, Bergerac, Guernsey and Barcelona also showed delays of up to an hour or more.

Departures were also impacted, with a Jet2 flight to Dalaman meant to take off at 3.40pm delayed until 5pm and a Ryanair flight to Barcelona scheduled for 4.10pm delayed until 5.19pm. However, it has not been possible to confirm whether all the delays were a direct consequence of the diverted jet.

The Daily Express understands the diverted flight was travelling to Birmingham Airport from Corfu and wasn't far from its final destination when it diverted for what a source described as a "safety" landing.

No one was injured, crew followed usual procedures and the landing was completed safely, according to the source. They added that it wasn't necessary to evacuate the plane on landing and passengers were bussed to Birmingham Aiport after arriving at East Midlands Airport. It is understood that after a tyre change the aircraft will be back in service by Tuesday (July 29).

East Midlands Airport serves more than 90 destinations and sees more than four million passengers passing through its gates as part of Manchester Airport Group.

The airport is between Loughborough, Derby and Nottingham. It is second to Heathrow Airport in the UK as a cargo hub, according to the airport's website.