HOLIDAYMAKERS have spoken of their disbelief after their plane was forced to make an emergency landing on its way to Tenerife – and on its return to Bournemouth Airport.

The first incident saw passengers on-board a Thomson Airways flight to the holiday hotspot face an emergency landing following a bird strike.

It happened during take-off from Bournemouth Airport just after 8.20am on Tuesday, January 10.

The Boeing 737-800 was seen circling over the airport for half an hour so it could burn off fuel to allow it to land safely.

It was diverted to Gatwick Airport, where it was met by fire crews before making the emergency landing just before 10am.

Following the landing passengers waited on board the plane for almost an hour while staff attempted to determine whether the engine could be repaired.

They were transferred to a second plane, which left for Tenerife just before 1pm.

But yesterday evening, the same passengers faced yet another emergency landing on their flight home to Bournemouth.

The plane - not the same one which experienced the bird strike - was seen circling the airport five times before landing due to a “technical problem”.

Five fire crews were called to the scene, while nearby roads were closed by police as the plane landed.

Speaking to the Daily Echo at the arrivals lounge after they had finally landed safely, stunned passengers said they “could not believe” what had happened.

Martin and Christine Muspratt said the journey had been a “nightmare” both ways.

“We were six hours delayed going there, and on the way back we were circling for over an hour.

“The worst part was they didn’t tell us what was going on at first, we were just circling and circling.

“It’s put us off going with Thomson again,” they added.

Angela and Gerald Bryant said they thought the plane was taking a different route initially, but after the third time circling the airport, they knew something was wrong.

“It did get a bit hairy,” Gerald said.

“They dealt with it well, but we can’t believe this happened.”

Nicola Baker also described it as a “hairy landing”, but said the pilot and crew dealt with the situation “very professionally”.

“It was the same pilot as the flight there, and he said when he landed he’d have to put the brakes on hard as there was a problem with the flaps.

“We never expected this to happen to us, let alone twice in one week.”

A spokesman for Thomson said: "Thomson Airways would like to apologise to customers returning home from Tenerife on flight TOM6249 this evening for any inconvenience caused following a priority landing at Bournemouth airport.

"This was a precautionary measure due to a technical issue. The aircraft landed safely having been met by emergency services in line with standard procedures.

"We appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding during this time and would like to take this opportunity to reassure everyone that the safety of our customers and crew is of paramount importance."