Ryanair flight to Bristol ends up 900 miles away in Spain

A Ryanair Boeing 737-800 bound for Bristol from Dublin landed more than 900 miles away in Alicante, Spain, early on Sunday 25 October 2026, after Storm Boelo disrupted its second attempt to reach a British airport that night. The aircraft, registered 9H-QDK, had already been diverted from Newquay to Dublin on Saturday evening. It ultimately returned to the Spanish airport where its journey began.

The extraordinary route unfolded across two flights. The aircraft first left Alicante for Newquay as FR2954, then departed Dublin as FR2955 for what should have been a short hop to Bristol. Instead, it climbed away from south-west England, crossed France and touched down on Spain’s Mediterranean coast.

Newquay diversion sends Ryanair Boeing to Dublin

The problems began as FR2954 approached Cornwall on Saturday 24 October. Flight-tracking records examined by AeroCorner show the aircraft holding at about 25,000ft for roughly 20 minutes rather than descending towards Newquay. A weather observation from the airport recorded winds gusting to 45 knots. The crew diverted to Dublin, landing at around 8.43pm.

Less than two hours later, the same aircraft was airborne again. Flight FR2955 left Dublin at around 10.35pm for Bristol and climbed to 27,000ft. It began descending as it approached south-west England, reaching roughly 20,000ft over South Wales before turning south and climbing again.

The Boeing made a loop over the English Channel, then set course for France. There would be no landing at Bristol, nor a diversion to another airport in Britain. According to AirLive, the aircraft reached Alicante-Elche Airport at about 2.15am Spanish local time on Sunday. Bristol lay roughly 910 miles (1,470km) away.

Why did Ryanair send FR2955 back to Alicante?

Storm Boelo had brought strong winds and widespread flight disruption to the UK, but Bristol was still receiving aircraft. AeroCorner’s review of flight-tracking data identifies other Ryanair services landing there around the time 9H-QDK turned south, including two in the following 40 minutes.

Returning to Alicante also put the Boeing back at its point of departure. Tracking records show it flying from the Spanish airport to Budapest on Sunday morning, making the return operationally useful. Ryanair has not publicly explained why its crew and operations team chose Alicante over another diversion airport.

Reports have suggested that the Newquay-bound passengers were to travel onwards by road if the aircraft reached Bristol. That arrangement has not been confirmed by Ryanair, and the airline has not disclosed how many passengers were aboard the final Dublin–Alicante sector.

Storm Boelo disrupts flights across Britain

The Ryanair detour was one of several striking incidents during the storm. At Birmingham Airport, a Jet2 Boeing 737 briefly left the runway after landing before returning to the paved surface and taxiing to its stand, according to the airline.

For 9H-QDK, the night ended back on the Spanish coast rather than in Bristol or Newquay, though what became of the passengers booked to Cornwall remains unclear.