Holidaymakers miss Jet2 flight after stairs mix-up

A flight to Spain took off without more than 30 passengers on board after they took a wrong turn down a set of stairs at the boarding gate.

The Jet2 flight from Manchester to Alicante departed without 31 holidaymakers – who found themselves in a dead-end stairwell after showing staff their boarding passes.

The passengers left behind had gone through a set of doors and down the steps at Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2 instead of following the air bridge to the plane for the 07:00 GMT flight.

Jet2, the airline responsible for the boarding process, said it was investigating the incident “as a matter of urgency”.

The airline apologised to the customers and said it had arranged alternative flights to Alicante for them.