Bomb squad officers were reportedly called to check out a suspicious package on Thomas Cook Airlines aircraft after it was forced to divert to Tenerife.
Holidaymakers complained they were herded off and put in a holding lounge with no drinks or assistance after it was discovered there was luggage on board which did not belong to any of the passengers.
The Airbus A321 landed at Tenerife South at around 6.30pm yesterday, just over two hours into its flight from the Cape Verde island of Sal to Gatwick.
Police bomb disposal experts with sniffer dogs surrounded the aircraft after it touched down and was taken to an area by the airport fire station out of public view.
The all-clear was sounded after they searched the aircraft and the suspicious suitcase.
The flight eventually landed at Gatwick five hours late at just after 3am today.
A Tenerife South airport official confirmed to the London Evening Standard that the pilot of flight MT1157 had asked to land after a “suspicious package” had been detected in the luggage hold which is though to have belonged to a passenger who failed to board the flight.