West Country Easyjet

An easyJet from Bristol to Bordeaux has had to be diverted due to a technical issue in the aircraft cabin.

The plane landed safely at La Rochelle and all 153 passengers have been safely taken off.

It follows an earlier report that the plane had declared an emergency on board:

More than 170 passengers have been left stranded at an airport in the Canary Islands after their flight was delayed for over 48 hours.

The Easy Jet passengers were due to fly home on Saturday from Fuerteventura but their journey has been cancelled several times.

Passengers troubles began on Saturday when their expected flight failed to take off due to "technical difficulties".

Engineers were called, but were unable to resolve the problem. An initial message from Easy Jet on their website read:

They later told passengers they were unable to extend their hotel stay, as availability was "low" and said they would refund any personal bookings passengers made.

Easyjet is now reporting that the flight from Fueteventura is due to take off at 6.30pm - landing into Bristol at 10.20pm.

EasyJet, Bristol Airport’s largest airline, has announced a further three new routes out of Bristol. From April next year, the airline will start flying to Bilbao, Isle of Man and Zante from Bristol Airport.

It follows an announcement of four additional new routes to Gibraltar, Porto, Lanzarote and Catania. In total, easyJet will add seven new destinations to its Bristol operations next summer.

A plane flying from Bristol to Edinburgh was hit by lightning this morning.

The Easyjet flight, carrying 140 passengers and crew, was hit after the plane was diverted to Newcastle because of high winds. The company says the aircraft is built to withstand lightning.

The passengers continued their journey by coach.

Business leaders in Cornwall are considering the impact of plans to cut the county's only air link to London.

Flights from Newquay to Gatwick are currently run by Exeter-based Flybe. But Easyjet has bought its landing slots, and has decided against continuing the route after next March.

Flights from Cornwall to London Gatwick will end early next year.

Easyjet bought the landing slots from Exeter based Flybe, but now say there isn't enough demand to keep the service open.

It's a major blow for the airport at Newquay, but also for the county's business community who'll have to travel to the capital by train or road.

The nearest airport to London from Newquay will be Southend.

Our Cornwall correspondent Steve Hardy reports.

A new Easyjet service has begun between Newquay and London Southend Airport. A new route to Liverpool will also start next month.

However Exeter-based airline Flybe has said it plans to stop services from Newquay to Gatwick next March after selling the landing slots in London.