Welcome to Scotland! BA passengers bound for Germany end up in EDINBURGH after pilot is given the wrong flight plan
- The BA flight, operated by WDL Aviation, was due to head east towards Germany
- But instead it headed north and just an hour after leaving, it landed in Edinburgh
- Passengers on board the flight took to Twitter to complain about the diversion
British Airways passengers have spoken of their shock after boarding a plane to Dusseldorf – that ended up in Edinburgh.
The flight, BA3271, set off from London City airport at 7.47am today and was supposed to head east to Germany.
But the pilot on the service – operated by Germany-based WDL Aviation on a ‘wet lease’ arrangement with BA – was given a flight plan that directed him to the Scottish capital and he touched down there at 9am.
British Airways passengers on board a leased WDL Aviation-operated flight from London City Airport to Dusseldorf ended up in Edinburgh after the pilot of the aircraft was given the wrong flight plan
Passengers on board the service only realised they were at the wrong destination after the plane landed and a ‘welcome to Edinburgh’ announcement was made.
Some on board took to Twitter to complain about the very unexpected diversion.
One passenger, called Son Tran, tweeted BA to ask: ‘Can you please explain how can my morning flight taking off from LCY to Düsseldorf land in Edinburgh?
‘While an interesting concept, I don’t think anyone on board has signed up for this mystery travel lottery… #BA3271.’
Mr Tran then followed up his first tweet with more information about the flight: ‘This feels like an honest mistake rather than a diversion. The crew was convinced of the Edinburgh flight path from the get-go…’
Another passenger, Chris McGrillen, added: ‘The first announcement the crew made about the destination was as we were coming in to land. Boarding passes weren’t checked.
‘Given this flight is operated by a third party (WDL) BA clearly needs to specify best practices (a ‘Welcome to your flight to Edinburgh’) for 3rd parties.’
Several of the passengers who were on board the plane took to Twitter to complain about the unexpected diversion
After the unplanned stop in Scotland, the plane refuelled and set off from Edinburgh at 10.30am on its second attempt to reach Düsseldorf.
Amused Twitter user Irwell Johnson commented in support of BA introducing ‘mystery’ plane tickets as a permanent feature: ‘I think it would be fab if you could buy a mystery lottery plane ticket.
‘A weekend return, hand luggage only. You only find out where you’re going when you get there. cool.’
Others worried that couldn’t count on their planned flights to Edinburgh reaching the destination.
Tamsin Birch tweeted: ‘Flying BA to Edinburgh at the weekend. REALLY want to go to Edinburgh. I’m sure Düsseldorf is lovely and all, but Edinburgh is where I wish to be.’
British Airways told MailOnline Travel: ‘We are working with WDL Aviation, who operated this flight on behalf of British Airways, to establish why the incorrect flight plan was filed.
‘We have apologised to customers for this interruption to their journey and will be contacting them all individually.’
A spokesman for WDL Aviation added: ‘We are working closely with the authorities to investigate how the obviously unfortunate mix-up of flight schedules could occur.
After the unplanned stop in Scotland, the plane refuelled and set off from Edinburgh, pictured, at 10.30am on its second attempt to reach Düsseldorf
‘At no time has the safety of passengers been compromised. We flew the five passengers on the flight with number BA3271 to Düsseldorf after the involuntary stopover in Edinburgh.’
Meanwhile a spokesperson for Edinburgh Airport said: ‘We’re a welcoming airport that is always happy to greet visitors from all over the world to our fantastic city, but this was a surprise for us as well as them!
‘We were happy to work with the various teams across the airport to help make the trip to Edinburgh a pleasurable, albeit short, one.’
The five passengers on BA3271 eventually landed safely in Dusseldorf, pictured