Man arrested by Portuguese police after incident on Edinburgh to Madeira flight

A man has been arrested by Portuguese police after the Edinburgh to Madeira EasyJet flight on Monday was forced to make an emergency landing in Lisbon, more than 600 miles away from its destination when a passenger reportedly claimed to have a gun on board.

The plane subsequently arrived at Funchal Airport in Madeira two hours later than scheduled.

A spokeswoman for EasyJet said: “EasyJet’s cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time.

“We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.”