Passengers aboard a Jet2 flight bound for Leeds Bradford Airport from Barcelona were re-directed to Manchester and delayed for three hours to prevent passengers on another flight facing further delays.

About 200 passengers boarded the LS 232 flight from Spain at 7.25pm on Tuesday and were within 40 minutes of landing at the Yeadon airport when the pilot suddenly announced the flight was diverting to Manchester.

According to one passenger, David Moss, of Burley Woodhead, near Ilkley, the pilot informed passengers that they would have to disembark at Manchester as other passengers were waiting to go to Faro.

They were then ferried by bus to Leeds-Bradford, finally arriving at about 10.20pm.

"We were a group of ten," said Mr Moss.

"We all got on the plane normally but then about 40 minutes from Leeds-Bradford the pilot came on the intercom and said he had been told to divert to Manchester due to service requirements. He wasn't happy about it.

"When we landed in Manchester we discovered that we were there because passengers to Faro had been waiting for a flight since 3pm. I sympathise with those passengers but this shouldn't have happened.

"It turned out they were servicing their customers not the planes.

"When we got off the plane there was no-one to help us with our baggage. One of our party is in his 80s and there was only one girl to put us on the buses which were all the way on the other side of the terminal.

"We are very upset about the cavalier attitude with which they treated their customers. We were never offered a drink or anything to eat all the way to Leeds-Bradford and when we got there, there was nobody at Jet2 there.

"I think they basically made the decision that we were only on the plane because it was a low-cost flight and they could do what they like. If they want customer loyalty they shouldn't treat people like that."

A Jet 2 spokesman said that while the airline regretted the inconvenience to passengers a decision had been made for the overall good of all.

He said: "The flight going to Faro had been delayed. If the Leeds-Bradford flight had not been diverted they would have been delayed for another four hours.

"It is regrettable for the people on board the flight but it was decided that this was the best option operationally for all involved. We regret any inconvenience but sometimes these things are unavoidable."

He added that if Mr Moss wanted to discuss the issue with the company's customer service department, it would try to assist him further.