The flight circled above Merseyside for over an hour
20:46, 03 May 2025Updated 21:51, 03 May 2025
The flight path of flight FR9202 to Porto. Flightradar 24 image taken at 11.10am on 03/05/2025
Ryanair has released a statement regarding a flight that circled above Merseyside for over an hour after departing from Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
Flight FR9202, heading to Porto, took off at 9.55am but entered a holding pattern above Wirral and off the coast for an extended period, according to flight tracking websites.
The Boeing 737-8AS made several loops over Wirral before following a similar circular route over the River Dee, where it meets the Irish Sea, off the coast between West Kirby and North Wales.
Several local residents in Wirral and Speke contacted the ECHO to report seeing the plane circling.
One person noted that the aircraft was “flying slowly and holding at around 7,000 feet.”
By 11.30am, the flight was marked as “diverted.” The ECHO reached out to the airport, where a spokesperson confirmed that the flight had to burn off fuel as it needed to return shortly after takeoff “for operational reasons” and would be landing soon.
Additionally, Ryanair issued a statement to the ECHO before 8.30pm. They said: “This flight from Liverpool to Porto returned to Liverpool shortly after take-off due to a minor technical issue with the aircraft.
“The aircraft landed safely, and passengers disembarked. To minimise disruption, we quickly arranged for another aircraft to operate this flight, which departed at 12.50pm on the same day.”