(Q24N) BBC News – A Thomson Airways flight to Costa Rica from Gatwick was delayed by three hours when the captain refused to fly.
The airline said there was an initial delay due to “operational reasons”, but passengers were subjected to a further wait due to a “customer incident”.
Twenty-five male passengers, including a 14-year-old boy, had to be removed from a plane at Gatwick Airport earlier after reports of disorderly behaviour.
A spokeswoman said customer and crew safety was its priority at all times.
“We operate a zero-tolerance policy in relation to any disruptive behaviour and several customers were asked to leave the aircraft.
“We worked as quickly as possible to ensure the other customers could get away on their holiday,” she said.
A Sussex Police spokesman said there was no violence as the officers escorted the passengers away and “no evidence of criminal offences on the aircraft or in the airport”.
Thomson Airways flies nonstop one a week between London and Liberia (Guanascate).