LUXEMBOURG — A British Airways flight en route from Cyprus to London Heathrow was forced to declare an emergency mid-flight on Sunday morning before diverting to Luxembourg Airport.
Flight BA711, operated by an Airbus A321neo with registration G-NEOR, departed Larnaca International Airport (LCA) at 04:20 UTC. The twinjet was cruising normally at 34,000 feet over Continental Europe when the crew transmitted a squawk 7700 code, the international aviation transponder signal designating a general emergency, shortly after entering French airspace.
Upon issuing the alert, the flight crew initiated an immediate descent out of cruising altitude and requested a diversion to Luxembourg Airport (LUX), the nearest suitable facility equipped to handle the aircraft.
While the exact nature of the emergency has not yet been detailed by British Airways or air traffic control, squawk 7700 is routinely used by pilots to obtain priority handling from ATC for issues ranging from minor technical glitches to medical emergencies.
According to preliminary flight planning, the aircraft is scheduled to make a safe landing in Luxembourg at 10:10 local time. The airline plans to process the diversion quickly, targeting a turnaround departure time of 11:20 local time to continue its journey to London Heathrow (LHR).
This is a developing story.
UPDATE #1
Touch down on runway 24 at 10.05 local time.
UPDATE #2
Parked on remote stand of the airport.
UPDATE #3
After the medical emergency, the flight is about to resume from LUX.
