A BRITISH Airways flight re-routed after it was forced to abort its landing and almost ran out of fuel.

The flight, BA2777 was unable to land at its scheduled destination due to strong gusts in excess of 40mph.

It was travelling from Jersey and was due to land at Gatwick Airport but ended up circling Brighton for around 20 minutes before another unsuccessful attempt.

The pilots then declared a fuel emergency and changed course for Birmingham where they eventually landed safely.

The flight left the Channel Island shortly after 8pm on Tuesday.

British Airways said they were sorry for any disruption caused to passengers’ plans.

A spokesperson said: “Due to the strong winds at Gatwick, the flight crew made the decision to divert to Birmingham.

“Our pilots are highly trained to deal with this sort of eventuality and will always err on the side of caution, as they did in this instance.

“The aircraft arrived safely and customers were on their way as soon as possible.”

Once in Birmingham, passengers remained on board and the aircraft was refuelled before flying to Gatwick.