North East flight diverted to Amsterdam after explosions at Brussels airport

A flight from Newcastle to Belgium which was due to land at 7.45am at Brussels has been diverted to Maastricht after two explosions at the airport

By The Newsroom

Published 22nd Mar 2016, 08:09 BST

Updated 22nd Mar 2016, 08:16 BST

Flight BMR1101, which departed from Newcastle Airport at 6.30am was minutes away from landing at the Zaventem Airport on Tuesday morning when two explosions hit at around 7.30am.

The BMI flight was diverted and landed at Maastricht Airport in the Netherlands just before 8am.

A flight was also expected to land from Brussels at Newcastle Airport today, with another one set to go out at 5pm.

News channels in Belgium are reporting at least 13 deaths in a series of attacks on Brussels airport and the city's metro system.

More than 23 million passengers passed through Brussels airport last year, making it the 21st busiest in Europe.