Passengers on a plane involved in a collision with another jet at London Stansted Airport today faced an 18-hour delay to get to Malaga.
The wing of Primera Air flight PF2871 to Malaga clipped the tail of Dublin-bound Ryanair aircraft FR205 as they were both on the taxiway this morning.
The passengers on the Ryanair Boeing 737-800 were transferred to an alternative aircraft for free and have already landed in Dublin, according to the airline.
But those travelling with Primera Air, which has only been flying from Britain since April 9, face an astonishing 18-hour wait for their trip to Malaga.
The wing of Primera flight PF2871 to Malaga clipped the tail of Dublin-bound Ryanair FR205
The airport said both planes were required to return to the stand after the 'airfield incident'
The wing of Primera flight PF2871 to Malaga is inspected by investigators at Stansted today
One passenger tweeted this picture of Primera Air passengers queuing amid the delays today
The flight, which was due to leave at 7.15am, will now take off at 1.40am tomorrow morning. Meanwhile a Primera Air flight from Stansted to Alicante due to take off at 3.15pm has been delayed by eight hours to 11.20pm tonight.
Primer Air passengers were left furious by the delays, with Alex Jerram tweeting: 'This was not a minor accident - our plane collided with another plane.
'We were originally delayed by almost two hours and we are now being told that we cannot travel until 18 hours after our original departure time. The way it is being handled is an absolute disgrace.'
Another said: 'The pilot struck another taxing plane with our wing! Ruined my whole trip for my bday with my Mrs waiting for me in Malaga. Had to cancel my whole trip.'
Earlier, Ryanair passengers were told by cabin crew that the aircraft had been hit by another plane, with three fire engines racing to the scene at about 9.15am.
Staff from The Independent who were on board the Ryanair flight said that the mood among passengers 'remained calm, even jovial'.
Primer Air passengers were left furious by the delays and took to Twitter to complain
One passenger, Malena McQuarrie, 23, from Dublin, told the Independent: 'I'm extremely annoyed, but I hope we're going to get home in time to vote.
The wrong Michael O'Leary takes the flak for Ryanair boss
You might expect Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary to attract the ire of passengers following the delays this morning.
But another Michael O'Leary ended up taking the flak for the Irishman today, after people got them confused online.
Mr O'Leary, 34, of Portsmouth, was tagged in Twitter posts by people talking about the disruption today.
But he said: 'Think you'll find I’m not the right Michael O’Leary if you actually check my profile!'
Further tweets then led him to reply 'AGAIN WRONG MICHAEL O'LEARY' - then 'AND AGAIN!!!''Luckily I live by the airport so it's not so bad for me but some people have to go far into the country. A girl in front of me was saying she has to fly back tonight.'
Genevieve Hulme Beaman, 29, of Dublin, added: 'My whole reason to get home is to vote, so as long as I get home to vote it's fine. You can vote until 10pm.
'I wanted to be there to support the women there, I have a lot of friends who are very emotional today and they could do with the support.'
The airport said both planes were required to return to the stand after the 'minor airfield incident', but no injuries were reported and no evacuation was required.
A spokesman for Stansted added: 'As a precaution, airfield operations were briefly suspended, but all flights have now resumed.'
A Ryanair spokesman said: 'One of our aircraft was stationary at the designated holding point on the taxiway at London Stansted Airport this morning when the winglet of a Primera Air aircraft taxiing behind scraped its tail stabiliser.
'Both aircraft were under the instruction of London Stansted Air Traffic Control at the time. The Ryanair aircraft returned to stand to be inspected by Ryanair engineers. To minimise delay, customers will transfer to a replacement aircraft later this morning.'
Investigators take a look at the wingtip of the plan following the collision at Stansted today
Ryanair said the aircraft returned to the stand to be inspected by engineers this morning
Passengers were told by cabin crew that the aircraft had been hit by another plane
An employee stands next to the Primera Air plane after the incident at Stansted this morning
A passenger watches a fire truck arrive at the airport from his window on the plane
The spokesman later added: 'All passengers affected were transferred to an alternative aircraft, free of charge, and have already landed in Dublin.'
A Primera Air spokesman said: 'Primera Air scheduled flight PF2871 to Malaga with Boeing 737-800 experienced a minor airfield incident at approximately 09.15 with a Ryanair aircraft Boeing 737-800 with scheduled flight FR205 to Dublin.
'Both aircraft were due to depart were required to return to stand. Incident didn't involve any injuries and no evacuation was required for either of the aircraft. Currently, technical teams are working on assessment of the damage.
'A substitute aircraft will be sent to Stansted airport to perform the affected flights and carry passengers to their destinations. Meanwhile, all passengers will be offered assistance by a handling agent.
Three fire engines raced to the scene at the airport in Essex at about 9.15am this morning
Three fire engines raced to the scene at the airport in Essex at about 9.15am this morning
Some of the passengers were trying to get to Ireland to vote in the historic referendum today
The wing of Primera flight PF2871 to Malaga clipped the tail of the Ryanair plane
Ryanair passengers are being transfer to a replacement aircraft later today, the airline said
'At the moment the expected delay for the flight to Malaga is about eighteen hours and delay for flight to Alicante eight. Further information will be provided as soon as possible.'
In Ireland today, voting is under way in a historic referendum as citizens decide whether to liberalise one of Europe's strictest abortion regimes.
Voters are opting to either retain or repeal the Eighth Amendment of the state's constitution, which prohibits terminations unless a mother's life is in danger.
Counting will begin tomorrow morning, with a total of 3.3million citizens registered to vote and 6,500 polling stations open across the country.
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