Leeds Bradford Airport closed after plane skids off runway in storm

A holiday jet skidded off a runway as it came in to land amid wet and windy conditions as Storm Babet swept the UK.

The TUI flight from Corfu "moved off the runway whilst landing" at Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) on Friday afternoon, an airport statement said.

Firefighters attended the scene but all passengers had been safely taken off the plane and the airport had closed, it added.

Travel firm TUI apologised to all passengers affected by the closure.

Leeds Bradford Airport said it hoped to reopen at 10:00 on Saturday, but bosses warned the updates are subject to change.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said there was no fire and that crews assisted "in evacuating all persons from the aircraft to the terminal".

An LBA spokesperson said: "We can confirm there are no reported injuries from this incident and that all passengers have now safely disembarked the aircraft. The airport is now closed.

"We are working with the airline, relevant operations teams and emergency authorities to resolve this situation and return services safely as quickly as possible.

"We ask passengers to contact their airline to check the status of their flight before travelling to the airport."

A spokeswoman for TUI said: "We would like to apologise to all those impacted by the closure of Leeds Bradford Airport on Friday following an incident that took place shortly after landing on TOM3551 from Corfu.

"The safety of our customers and crew is our number one priority and we can confirm there were no reported injuries, with all passengers disembarking the aircraft via the steps."

All bags had been removed from the aircraft and TUI had teams "on hand to support customers".

Passengers due to depart on Friday would be taken to Manchester Airport, where an aircraft was ready to take them on holiday as planned, the company said.

TUI said it is assisting the Air Accidents Investigation Branch with their investigation.

One person believed to have been on the stricken jet posted pictures from the plane on social media and said they were "going to be here a while" after commenting on the "interesting landing".

"Oops overshot runway at Leeds Bradford airport, bogged down on the grass - interesting landing greeted by fire engines and airport authorities," they said.

"Going to be here a while."

Another eyewitness posting on Facebook said she was at the airport when the "TUI plane skidded off [the] runway" with "a bumpy hard landing".

Passengers arriving for flights from Leeds Bradford Airport on Friday evening were faced with departure boards filled with cancelled departures, and queues for taxis and buses in pouring rain.

Customers were also arriving on coaches from other airports, having been diverted.

One group said their flight from Majorca had been diverted to Manchester and they had just arrived at Leeds Bradford on a coach.

"We hoped to be back home and having a cup of tea by 2.30pm," one of the women said.

"But we're still here, drenched, waiting for another bus into town.

"It's not a great end to the week."

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