Passengers expecting to arrive at Manchester Airport this morning were in for a surprise as their flights ended up elsewhere.
Several flights that were due to land in Manchester on Sunday (January 5) have been diverted to other airports, including in Paris, Dublin and Glasgow. It comes after Manchester Airport shut its runways due to heavy snow between around 6am and 9.30am.
The runways have now reopened but the airport has warned passengers of continued delays throughout the day. Dozens of flights have been delayed with some cancelled and others diverted to other airports within the UK or further afield in France or Ireland.
According to Manchester Airport, some flights that were due to land in Birmingham in the early hours of the morning were diverted to Manchester too. The airport has told the Manchester Evening News it is up to airlines to get passengers to their original destination.
Passengers diverted to airports in other countries are expected to be flown back to Manchester but those at airports that are closer, such as Birmingham, may be put on buses to the city. According to flightradar24, the last flight to land at Manchester Airport before the temporary closure this morning (January 5) was the TUI flight from Cancun that was due to arrive at 6.05am and landed on time.
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After that, all flights were delayed or diverted until shortly after 9.30am when the runways had been cleared. The Hainan Airlines flight from Beijing that was due to land in Manchester at 5.50am was the first to be diverted and was re-routed to Dublin Airport in Ireland.
A TUI flight that was due to arrive from Bridgetown, an Aer Lingus flight from New York and a Ryanair flight from Funchal were also diverted to Dublin. Flights from Doha, Shanghai, Abu Dhabi and Barcelona were also diverted, but only as far as Birmingham Airport.
Flights from Bahrain, Atlanta and Hong Kong were re-routed to London Heathrow while Orlando and Dubai flights have been sent to Glasgow. A Norse flight from Bridgetown in Barbados that was due to arrive at 6.28am was diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland.
The furthest diversion appears to be the Air Transat flight to Toronto, due to arrive in Manchester at 7.10am, which has gone to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.