A Leeds woman says she was "mortified" when her flight to Spain was turned around mid-air due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
Kelly Davies, 31, from Hunslet, was travelling to Benidorm with a friend who has just completed her cancer treatment, her mother and another friend on Saturday, March 14.
They set off on a Jet2 flight from Leeds Bradford Airport at 7.20am, but around 90 minutes into the flight they were turned around and sent back.
The airline says it decided to cancel all flights to the country on Saturday morning "in response to local measures introduced throughout Spain to prevent the spread of Covid-19".
Kelly said: "With all the rumours going about we thought our flight might have been cancelled. We rang Jet2 and they said everything is going ahead and they hadn't had any news about closures from the Spanish borders.
"We got on the plane, it set off and an hour and a half into the journey the pilot came on over the tannoy and said that he was diverting us and taking us back to Leeds Bradford Airport.
"They said Spainish borders aren't allowing anyone in and they are stopping flights, so they brought us back. We were motified.
"We were heading to Benidorm because my friend's had cancer and just had her last lot of chemo on March 4. We booked it to all go away and enjoy Paddy's Day there and celebrate that she has finished.
"There were four of us on the flight and when we got back, we all decided to go to Skegness."
She added: "We were all heading to the same hotel (in Benidorm) but we were told that everything is on lockdown - all bars and restaurants are shut."
Kelly said she met up with all of her friends, who had planned to travel to Benidorm, for a St Partick's Day celebration in Leeds city centre on March 17.
There are now more than 11,000 confirmed cases of the virus in Spain and 491 people there have died after contracting in the virus.
The country has closed its borders and is enforcing a partial lockdown on 47 million people.
In the UK, where there are 1,950 confirmed cases and more than 70 people have lost their lives to the flu-like virus, the government is advising everyone against "all but essential travel".
In a statement released at the weekend, Jet2 said: "In response to local measures introduced throughout Spain to prevent the spread of Covid-19, including the closure of bars, restaurants, shops and activities including any water sports, we have taken the decision to cancel all flights to Mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands with immediate effect.
"We know these local measures will have a significant impact on our customers’ holidays, which is why we have taken this decision.
"We are contacting our customers who are currently in these destinations, and who are due to travel, to advise them of their options, so we urge customers not to call us.
"This is a fast-moving and complex situation and we are reviewing our programme as a matter of urgency, so that we can fly customers back to the UK.
"The health and safety of our customers is our number one priority, and we would like to thank our customers for their understanding."
