Faulty aircraft closes runway for half an hour

The plane was en route to Alderney in the morning when it developed a hydraulic issue during its approach.

‘As a precautionary measure, the aircraft returned safely to Guernsey Airport,’ the airline said.

The plane landed at about 9.35am.

A Guernsey Ports spokesman said that the fault stopped the aircraft from being able to manoeuvre off the runway so it was met by the Airport Fire and Rescue Service on landing.

All passengers were able to disembark safely after which airport engineering staff towed the plane off the runway.

The runway reopened at 10.10am but there was a knock-on effect for Aurigny flights for the rest of the day.

Aurigny said that its engineering team immediately investigated and identified a hydraulic issue and set about fixing it.

‘We will return the aircraft to service once we are certain that it meets the highest safety standards.’

It expected the plane to be operational by early afternoon.

‘We sincerely apologise to all affected customers for any inconvenience this incident may have caused,’ said the airline. ‘We are proactively contacting affected customers by email and text message.’

Among the flights affected was the 9.35am to London Gatwick which did not take off until six hours later at 3.33pm, although the 10.20am flight left at 11.16am.

There were shorter delays for other services, such as the 1.45pm to Birmingham which departed at 2.38pm, and the 1.30pm to Bristol which was scheduled to leave at 5pm.