British Airways flight to London declares mid-air emergency

British Airways flight BA711 from Cyprus to London Heathrow declared a mid-air emergency and diverted to Luxembourg due to a medical incident on board.

Brit Brief 28/09/2026 06:58

British Airways flight to London declares mid-air emergency — BA flight to London declares mid-air emergency

A British Airways flight from Cyprus to London was forced to make an emergency landing after declaring a mid-air emergency.

Flight BA711, bound for London Heathrow, made a sudden diversion to Luxembourg after transmitting the squawk 7700 code, an international signal for a general emergency, shortly after entering French airspace, according to flight-tracking data.

Medical incident on board

The jet departed Larnaca International Airport shortly before 7am EEST (5am BST) on Sunday and was cruising at 34,000 feet when the emergency code was sent. British Airways confirmed the diversion was due to a medical incident on board.

An immediate descent was triggered to the nearest airport. According to AirLive, the jet reported a "medical emergency" on the flight.

Safe landing and resumed journey

At around 10am CEST (9am BST), the Airbus A321neo landed safely in Luxembourg. It later departed for London Heathrow at 12.50pm CEST (11.50am BST) and arrived in the capital at 12.51pm BST.