A packed holiday jet from Bournemouth to Gran Canaria has been diverted to Faro over 'smoke in the cabin.'

The incident triggered a 'red code alert' at the Algarve airport, with emergency response vehicles being mobilised although the plane landed safely.

Local sources said the diversion was due to 'smoke in the cabin.'

The flight had departed from Bournemouth at 9.55am and was due to arrive in Gran Canaria around 3.5 hours later.

The Jet2 Flight LS3643 landed at Faro around 12.25pm local time in Portugal.

A Jet2 spokesperson said: 'Our highly trained crew operating flight LS3643 from Bournemouth to Gran Canaria elected to divert to Faro as a precautionary measure after an aroma was detected in the cabin.

'At no point was safety compromised whatsoever, and the aircraft landed safely. 

'A standby aircraft will fly customers from Faro to Gran Canaria, and we would of course like to sincerely apologise to customers for this delay.'

In December last year, another plane, heading from London Stansted to the Canary Islands, was diverted to Portugal following a red alert.

The Boeing 737 was on its way to Fuerteventura but instead landed at Faro Airport.

Emergency services, including paramedics and firefighters, were put on standby at Faro Airport as part of the protocol red alert procedure.

Civil Protection said 35 vehicles and more than 80 responders had been mobilised, including their workers, police, ambulances and firefighters.

Squawk Alert, which follows commercial airlines that declare emergencies, said on its site on X at the time: 'The crew of Jet2 flight EXS83LV from London to Fuerteventura has declared an emergency and are diverting to Faro.'

Another flight emergency site said: 'Diverting to Faro due to a problem with engine number one.'

Earlier the same month, a plane packed with returning UK tourists had to divert following a mid-air toilet malfunction.

Ryanair flight FR1667 should have reached Bristol around 5pm on December 8 after departing from Fuerteventura at lunchtime.

But it diverted to the neighbouring Canary Island of Lanzarote shortly into its 3.5 hour journey after 'some toilets' stopped working, according to local air traffic controllers.