Thomson flight diversion costs thousands of pounds
A Thomson plane was forced to divert at an estimated cost of £35,000 after a heated row broke out between a teenager and his stepfather on route to their holiday.
Holidaymakers were forced to wait as the quarrelling family were marched off the plane by waiting police officers at Porto airport in Portugal.
The flight had been on its way to the Spanish island of Lanzarote when the pilot was forced to divert.
Lee Doran, 17, was on his first trip abroad with half-brother Dylan, 14, stepfather David Laughton, 39, his partner Sarah Wilson and their son Harry, three when the row began.
Diverting the plane was a last resort, a spokesman for the airline said.
He said: "We would like to apologise to passengers for any disruption encountered during the flight.
"Unfortunately a party of passengers became disruptive on board and as a last resort the flight had to be diverted to Portugal.
"Thomson operates a zero tolerance policy with regards to any disruptive behaviour on board and incidents of this type are extremely rare."
Diane
Have your say Cancel reply
Subscribe/Login to Travel Mole Newsletter
Travel Mole Newsletter is a subscriber only travel trade news publication. If you are receiving this message, simply enter your email address to sign in or register if you are not. In order to display the B2B travel content that meets your business needs, we need to know who are and what are your business needs. ITR is free to our subscribers.

































France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt