Police are called after easyJet passengers became ‘disruptive’ during flight

An easyJet pilot was forced to make a priority landing after a about a dozen ‘troublesome passengers’ became ‘disruptive’ during a flight, it has emerged.

The disruption occurred yesterday onboard flight EZY19WZ which was travelling from Liverpool to Tenerife, Spain. 

Following a priority landing, officers boarded the aircraft and took the problem-causing into custody for questioning. The individuals will be deported back to the UK on the next available flight.

The incident comes amid a hot button debate about tourism in the Canary Islands after Lanzarote’s president claimed the island was being saturated by British tourists and that it instead wanted to accommodate more ‘higher quality’ travellers from mainland Europe.

An easyJet pilot was forced to make a priority landing after a about a dozen ‘troublesome passengers’ became ‘disruptive’ during a flight (stock photo)

The disruption occurred yesterday onboard flight EZY19WZ which was travelling from Liverpool to Tenerife, Spain

There was a disruption on board flight EZY19WZ yesterday, prompting crews to request police presence and a priority landing as the plane neared the holiday island.

Spanish Air Traffic controllers confirmed the incident on social media, saying that as a result of the brawl, the flight’s landing approach was made as short as possible.

Officers boarded the plane upon landing – and before anyone could disembark – so they could take the unruly passengers into custody, The Canarian Weekly reported. 

Police on the island could not be reached early this morning for comment, although normal procedure involves the identification of passengers deemed to have breached air safety so they can be sent fines.

Air traffic control, in its post yesterday, said: ‘All our support to crews and officials in airports, who more often than is desirable, have to deal with these situations.’ 

An easyJet spokesperson told MailOnline that yesterday’s flight was met by police due to a group of passengers behaving ‘disruptively onboard’.

‘EasyJet’s cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time.

‘Whilst such incidents are rare we take them very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour onboard.

‘The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always easyJet’s priority.’

The incident comes as tourism authorities across Europe are issuing a string of rulings seemingly aimed at freezing out tourists – and in particular, Britons.

Tourist chiefs in Amsterdam warned British men to ‘stay away’ as part of a major new operation to clean up the city and rid it of rowdy and hedonistic behaviour. 

Lanzarote President Dolores Corujo last month claimed the island was being saturated by British tourists and instead wanted to accommodate more ‘higher-quality’ travellers from mainland Europe.

Ms Corujo claimed the island would pursue ‘a diversification strategy to reduce dependence on the British market.’ 

Similarly, local authorities in the Canary Islands have airlines and passengers to follow safety rules and regulations as there has seemingly become an uptick in worrisome incidents on planes.

The brawl comes amid debate about tourism in the Canary Islands. Pictured: Tenerife

Earlier this week it emerged a drunk passenger had forced a pilot on a flight from Glasgow to Tenerife to make an emergency landing in Portugal.

Jet2 said they were banning the 55-year-old Brit for life, accusing him of being aggressive, illicitly consuming alcohol, intimidating other customers and urinating inside the cabin.

Holidaymakers were delayed overnight while the plane was deep-cleaned before their onward flight to Tenerife the following day.

An easyJet plane with 100 people on board, heading from London Gatwick to Agadir in Morocco, had to make an unscheduled landing in Faro on the Algarve on Friday after the pilot fell ill.