Birmingham Airport shut down over 'incident' as flights put on hold

All flights are currently on hold at Birmingham Airport following an 'incident with a light aircraft' on the runway.

A number of planes have been diverted from the West Midlands airport, while others have been delayed significantly. At 2.48pm, Birmingham Airport's official Twitter account announced that its runway was closed.

An unconfirmed picture from the scene shows a white light-aircraft on a runway surrounded by emergency vehicles.The unfolding incident at Birmingham comes after a union in Spain announced its Ryanair workers would strike at 12 airports in the coming weeks.

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Birmingham Airport has said in a statement: “Following an aircraft incident, the runway is temporarily closed. We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause. We will keep passengers already at the airport informed, and those due to travel later today are advised to check the status of their flight before coming to the airport. We will continue to issue updates when we can."

The closure of the runway has had an immediate impact on flights late into Wednesday evening, despite airport officials giving no indication of when things will begin moving again.

One of two daily Emirates flights to Birmingham appears to be delayed by around four hours. Two Jet2 flights due to land this afternoon, one from Faro and one from Lanzarote, have been diverted to Manchester.

Flightradar24 lists multiple Ryanair, easyJet and TUI flights as being delayed.

According to the Twitter account Aerospace Updates - which tracks flights across the UK - the incident seems to have involved a a 44-year-old Beech B200 Super King Air registered G-NIAA. "It was meant to be flying to Belfast before declaring emergency via Squawk 7700," the account claimed.

Birmingham Airport has been contacted for additional comment.

Passengers should check with their airline before traveling. Under UK law, airlines must provide you with care and assistance if your flight is significantly delayed. The law splits the set timeframes into three categories, with different waiting times required for each before the airline's requirement to help kicks in.

• Short-haul flight of under 1,500km: more than two hours
• Medium-haul flight of 1,500km – 3,500km: more than three hours
• Long-haul flight of over 3,500km: more than four hours

This means they must provide:

• A reasonable amount of food and drink (often provided in the form of vouchers)
• A means for you to communicate (often by refunding the cost of your calls)
• Accommodation, if you are re-routed the next day (usually in a nearby hotel)
• Transport to and from the accommodation (or your home, if you are able to return there)

The airline must provide you with these items until it is able to fly you to your destination, no matter how long the delay lasts or what has caused it..

Unfortunately, it's unlikely that airlines will be forced to pay out any compensation on top of refunds as an incident of this sort will probably be judged an 'extraordinary circumstance'.

Disruptions caused by things like extreme weather, airport or air traffic control employee strikes also fall into this category.

Lukas Holter, travel expert at Airport Taxi Hub, advised: ""Log into your airline’s app or website to check the real-time status of your flight, as this is often the fastest way to receive the most accurate updates. Many airlines offer flexible options in the event of delays, such as rebooking onto the next available service or changing your travel dates without penalty. If these options are available, it’s best to take advantage of them as early as possible to minimise the risk of longer waits or further disruption to your journey."

This is a breaking news story. We will update this story as more information comes in.