Mass mid-air brawl forces easyJet plane to return to Tenerife

A mid-air brawl involving around 10 passengers forced a Liverpool-bound easyJet plane to return to Tenerife.

The captain decided to return to the Spanish island around 30 minutes after departure "due to the danger" the violence "posed to the safety of the flight", the air traffic controller said.

Police met flight EZY3352 when it touched down at Tenerife South Airport on Tuesday evening, after a request by the crew.

In a statement, easyJet said the flight had returned "due to a group of passengers behaving disruptively".

"We take these incidents very seriously and do not tolerate disruptive behaviour towards our staff," the airline added.

A spokesperson stressed that: "Our cabin and ground crew are trained to assess all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other customers is not compromised at any time."

After being met by police and the troublesome passengers removed, the 186-passenger aircraft continued on to Liverpool.

All those involved were reportedly British, and it is understood no arrests were made by the Spanish Civil Guard.

The air traffic controller said in its statement: "Our full support goes out to the crews and passengers who are increasingly having to endure these situations."

Air traffic control also said the crew had requested police presence upon arrival, and that controllers "expedited their return as much as possible while coordinating with the airport for police presence".

The flight eventually touched down in Liverpool at 2.19am, one hour and 54 minutes after its scheduled arrival time, according to Flightradar24 data.

In 2023, data shared exclusively with Sky News showed that reports of disruptive behaviour on flights had almost tripled compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mass brawls, sexual assaults, physical violence, drunken threats, verbal abuse and passengers stripping off are all examples of the kind of disruptive behaviour experienced by cabin crew in recent years.

UK airlines have a mandatory duty to report cases involving intoxicated, violent or unruly passengers to the Civil Aviation Authority for safety reasons.

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Under a new UK government proposal, disruptive plane passengers could find themselves banned from flying by all airlines.

It is understood that a scheme for carriers to share information on unruly travellers is being developed by officials at the Department for Transport and the Home Office.

The proposal, which is still at the concept stage, could lead to airlines being required to notify the government of a disruptive passenger.

A participating airline could then be alerted when the same marked person checked in for a subsequent flight.

It would then be up to that airline to determine how to respond, but they would have the option of refusing to carry them.

A YouGov survey of 5,173 British adults conducted in April suggested that three out of four people are in favour of the government creating a database of disruptive passengers so they can be banned from all flights.

(c) Sky News 2026: Mass mid-air brawl forces easyJet plane to return to Tenerife