Flight Lamezia Terme – London Gatwick diverted to Tunisia. He had to carry a spare part for another plane

A flight of British charter airline TUI Airways took an unexpected detour en route from Italy to the UK. The detour was to Tunisia, where a spare part had to be delivered for another aircraft. In detail, passengers of TUI Airways flight BY4651 on Saturday 5 August 2023 departing from Lamezia Terme and bound for London Gatwick were diverted to Enfidha-Hammamet airport, in North Africa. This diversion was made due to the airline needing to deliver a component to another flight (flight BY529), which was facing a technical problem and required support. The TUI Airways flight to London Gatwick, operated with a Boeing 737 MAX 8 registered as G-TUMS, had already suffered a two-hour delay upon departure from Lamezia Terme. Subsequently, it was further delayed for another two hours as the aircraft remained on the runway at Enfidha Airport (NBE) for approximately one hour, to refuel and deliver the necessary equipment. As a result, the arrival at Gatwick was four hours after the scheduled time. Due to the prompt delivery of the spare part to Enfidha, TUI Airways flight BY529 (Enfidha-Manchester), operated with a Boeing 737-800 registered as G-TAWJ, was only delayed by thirty minutes. Passengers were offered a drink as a courtesy gesture although they are also entitled to claim compensation for the delay in accordance with the EU261 delay compensation rule.