#news : Passengers stage sit-in on plane at Birmingham Airport

Some 100 passengers staged a sit-in on a plane at Birmingham Airport refusing to get off for several hours.

The Viking Hellas flight was originally scheduled to leave from Manchester for Athens at 13:00 BST, but passengers were then taken by bus to Birmingham.

They boarded a plane due to leave at 17:00, but were then told to get off, which they refused to do.

At about 01:30 BST they finally agreed to leave and left the airport by bus to return to Manchester.

West Midlands Police boarded the plane during the dispute.

A police spokesman said: "It was just a civil dispute and the police were there monitoring the situation to make sure it didn't get out of hand."

He said there had been "an issue between the airline and the passengers".

A passenger named Dorota said the flight had been chartered and they were originally due to fly on Friday, 21 October.

She said: "People are hungry. They have not eaten since this morning.

"The air conditioning has been switched off and it is getting hot. The airline will not give us food, only water."

She later said: "We decided to leave the plane because there was no point in staying on there.

"We are going home. We have got a letter from Viking Hellas and we can get a refund."

The letter said the plane could not take off due to unforeseen circumstances, she said.

No-one has been available for comment from Viking Hellas.

bbc.co.uk

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