A RYANAIR plane has made an emergency landing after being forced to divert to the Portuguese airport following suspected "engine malfunction".
A "Code Red" alert was triggered at Faro Airport when the flight FR 1249, which was travelling from Manchester to Tenerife South, reported problems and the pilot said it was diverting.
More than 70 responders including police, firefighters and Civil Protection workers were mobilised along with around 30 emergency vehicles.
All roads to the airport were blocked for 15 minutes.
The plane landed safely just before 10am local time.
The red alert was sounded at around 9.20 am when the plane was already on its way to the Canary Islands.
It had to turn back and head north for the emergency landing at Faro airport.
It was not clear how many passengers were on board but they have already resumed their journey to Tenerife on a spare plane.
A spokesman for Ryanair said: "This flight from Manchester to Tenerife (12 Dec) diverted to Faro due to a technical issue with the aircraft.
"The aircraft landed normally, and the passengers disembarked.
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"Engineers are checking this aircraft and a spare has been routed to operate this flight to Tenerife, which departed at 10:56 local.
"We apologise sincerely to affected passengers for this tech diversion, which was beyond Ryanair’s control."
A Ryanair plane had to make an emergency landing at the same airport a week ago after the pilot fell ill.
The aircraft was heading from London Stansted to Morocco.
The pilot had told passengers before landing that he wasn’t feeling well and the diversion also triggered a “red alert” at the airport, reported Portuguese media Correio da Manha.
A spokesman for Ryanair said at the time: “This flight from Stansted to Morocco diverted to Faro when one of the pilots became ill.
“The aircraft landed normally, and passengers were transferred to an alternative aircraft operated by another crew before continuing to Morocco.“
In April a packed easyJet plane heading to Agadir in Morocco from London Gatwick had to divert to Faro.
Local reports at the time said the flight diversion was the result of the pilot suffering an “indisposition”, and led to an identical red alert being activated before the Airbus A320 was landed safely.
EasyJet said in a comment at the time: “easyJet can confirm that flight EZY6469 from London Gatwick to Agadir on 21 April diverted to Faro due to the First Officer requiring medical assistance.
“The Captain performed a routine landing in accordance with standard operating procedures and the aircraft was met by medical services on arrival in Faro.
“A replacement crew was arranged and passengers have since continued their journey to Agadir.
"We apologise for any inconvenience experienced due to the diversion and resulting delay.
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“The safety and well-being of its passengers and crew is easyJet's highest priority.”
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