A holidaymaker was today grappled into a headlock and violently marched off a Ryanair flight by police after a Luton-Lanzarote flight had to be diverted to Portugal because of his behaviour.

The man, thought to be British, was forcibly removed from the plane by a dozen Portuguese police officers as other passengers watched in astonishment.

A fellow passenger who filmed the shocking scenes at Faro airport told MailOnline: 'There was a group of men who appeared to have been drinking who were bothering some female passengers.

'When it started to get a bit out of hand one of the stewards tried to intercede and ended up somehow getting knocked over.

'At this point the captain gave a warning over the tannoy that unacceptable behaviour would not be tolerated and if it did not stop we would divert to Portugal.

This is the shocking moment a holidaymaker was today grappled into a headlock and violently marched off a Ryanair flight by police after a Luton-Lanzarote flight had to be diverted to Portugal because of his behaviour

'But the commotion didn't let up and 20 minutes later we were told on the tannoy we are landing in twenty minutes with no further info.

'The man fighting in the video originally got off voluntarily but for some reason then got back on and was then forcibly removed by the police who got him in a headlock.

'This man was one of several passengers who were removed,' the passenger said.

'It was quite shocking to see. We are all a bit shaken.'

Footage filmed inside the cabin showed several passengers with their phones out, watching in astonishment as the police drag the man down the aisle.

The man is seen struggling against the officers, prompting them to put him in a headlock in an attempt to subdue him.

Another officer is seen holding his arm ahead of him, dragging him to the exit.

Some of the passengers can be heard encouraging the officers and even cheering and clapping in the man's face, clearly eager for the disorderly man to be taken off the plane as quickly as possible. 

'Bye bye mate!' one man is head shouting. A woman shouts 'Well done!'

After being dragged off the plane, the man was filmed being taken away by local police

Pictured: The diverted plane is seen on the tarmac in Portugal

Separate video shot out of the passenger window of the aircraft showed the man being marched by the large group of police officers over the tarmac.

Even then he appeared to be resisting before being bundled into a police car.

Another clip showed the larger group of people also standing on the tarmac haveing also been removed from the plane. 

The Ryanair plane was heading from the UK to the Canary Islands when it was divered. There has not yet been any official comment from authorities in Portugal but one well-placed insider said all involved in the incident were British.

The plane left Luton airport at 8am and was due to reach Lanzarote at 12.15pm local time today.

It was diverted to Faro instead and touched down at the airport in Portugal's Algarve region at around 10.50am local time.

An email was despatched to passengers on the flight which read: 'We apologise that your flight, FR3511, from London Luton to Lanzarote on the 19-01-2024 was unexpectedly diverted to Faro.

'When we are forced to divert a flight, we immediately begin planning your onward journey from the airport you diverted to. If your flight is diverted and is scheduled to continue from there, we will work to keep this delay as minimal as possible.

'

Portuguese police sources said seven passengers had been involved in an altercation and one person had been arrested. 

Ryanair and the Portuguese police have been contacted.

Last month three Ryanair planes from the UK had to divert to Faro for different reasons.

On December 20 a Boeing 737 operated by the budget airline landed at the Algarve airport with 202 people on board after diverting from its original route of London Stansted to Lisbon because of a technical problem.

A 'red code' alert was issued and led to 35 emergency response vehicles and nearly 80 responders including firefighters and civil protection workers being put on standby, although the plane landed safely.

Portuguese police sources said seven passengers had been involved in an altercation and one person had been arrested after a fight broke out on board

On December 12 another Ryanair plane heading from Manchester to Tenerife South had to divert to the same airport amid another 'red alert', with that incident also being blamed on a technical issue with the aircraft.

And the Tuesday before that a Ryanair plane heading from London Stansted to Morocco landed at Faro in similar circumstances after the pilot fell ill.

A spokesman for Ryanair said after the December 5 incident: 'This flight from Stansted to Morocco diverted to Faro when one of the pilots became ill.

'The aircraft landed normally, and passengers were transferred to an alternative aircraft operated by another crew before continuing to Morocco.'