A RYANAIR passenger found himself removed from a plane after he received a positive Covid-19 diagnosis while waiting for the flight to take off.
The unnamed man and a companion were due to fly from Stansted Airport, England, to Pisa in Italy, despite the man awaiting test results for coronavirus.
According to Ryanair, the pair were seated on the flight for only ten minutes when he received his diagnosis via text, and the pair were then "offloaded" and brought to an isolation room in Stansted airport.
The NHS advises anyone with symptoms who are awaiting a test result to self-isolate for two weeks or until they receive a negative diagnosis.
According to other passengers on the Ryanair flight, the man and his companion were removed by officials in HazMat suits, and the flight went ahead after a delay of one hour 20 minutes following a full cleaning of the seats overhead cabins.
The man was removed after receiving a positive coronavirus diagnosis via textIn a statement, Ryanair said:
"Since this passenger and his companion had complied fully with Ryanair health regulations, they were both wearing masks at all times at Stansted Airport and for the very short period - less than 10 minutes - they were seated on the aircraft prior to departure.
"There was little if any risk of Covid-19 transmission to other passengers or crew members as all of whom were also wearing face masks at all times.
"The aircraft departed for Pisa following a delay of one hour and 20 minutes to allow for the empty seats and overhead cabin bins to be disinfected to comply with all UK health authority guidance.
"Ryanair apologises to all passengers for this short delay."
A spokesperson for Stansted Airport, meanwhile, confirmed the incident, stating:
"We were made aware of the passenger by the airline and members of the airport's fire service attended the aircraft and escorted the passenger and travel partner to an isolation area, where they were put in contact with Public Health England who then oversaw the passenger's onward journey."
