Two Muslim men were asked to get off a plane bound for Manchester and go back through security after passengers claimed that they were “making gestures” on the flight.
Thomas Cook later apologised to the passengers who came under suspicion after two female passengers told cabin crew they had witnessed the men “skipping security scanners” and signalling to each other while boarding the plane.
The men had to get off the flight from Turkey, which was just about take-off before the passengers raised the suspicion.
They returned to the terminal to go over security checks, and were later cleared to travel on service MT685 from Izmir to Manchester Airport on Wednesday.
The incident led to all the other passengers being delayed by more than 80 minutes.
When the two men were allowed to re-board, the accusers – who also claimed they were “making phone calls” – refused to travel with them, and chose to return to the terminal.
It’s understood the two men were in their seats and preparing for take-off when two women chose to complain to the cabin crew about them.
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The women complained that the men were “making gestures to each other” and “going to the toilet to use their phones”.
The men were said to have remained calm throughout the entire incident.
A spokesman for Thomas Cook Airlines, said: “Two customers on this flight were asked to go through security a second time as a precaution, after unverified concerns were raised that the initial airport security check had missed them out.
“We’d like to thank these two customers for their patience and apologise for any inconvenience.”
