A Ryanair Boeing 737-800 declared a fuel emergency and diverted to Brest after a separate Iberia regional aircraft incident blocked the only commercial runway at Nantes-Atlantique Airport.
The Ryanair flight, operating as FR5448 from Seville to Nantes on July 6, was already on final approach when the crew had to abandon the landing. According to details reported by Simple Flying, the runway had been closed after Iberia flight IB1222, operated by Air Nostrum with a Mitsubishi CRJ-1000, returned to Nantes following an emergency of its own.
The timing left the Ryanair jet with few easy options. Nantes has only one runway available for commercial operations, and the disabled Iberia regional aircraft and debris on the airfield meant controllers could not quickly reopen the airport to inbound traffic.
Ryanair Diverts To Brest Under Emergency Code
The Ryanair aircraft, identified as Boeing 737-8AS EI-EBK, had departed Seville at about 5:35 p.m. and was approaching Nantes shortly after 7:00 p.m. local time. After the go-around, the aircraft initially climbed away from the airport and was instructed into holding while crews assessed whether the runway could be cleared in time.
As the hold continued, the Ryanair crew declared an emergency due to low fuel and switched the transponder to code 7700. Air traffic control then prioritized the aircraft and vectored it toward Brest Bretagne Airport, roughly 150 miles northwest of Nantes.
The flight landed safely at Brest just after 8:00 p.m., around 2 hours and 40 minutes after leaving Seville. There were no reports of injuries, and the emergency ended with the aircraft safely on the ground rather than attempting to wait for Nantes to reopen.
Iberia Regional Incident Triggered The Disruption
The runway closure began when Iberia flight IB1222, operated by Air Nostrum and bound for Madrid, suffered an engine-related problem during takeoff from Nantes. Reports cited by Simple Flying said the CRJ-1000 experienced an engine failure at high thrust, with foreign object debris believed to be linked to a tire burst.
The Iberia regional jet managed to get airborne, circled back, and landed safely at Nantes. However, the aircraft and debris forced airport teams to close and inspect the runway before normal operations could resume. The airport reportedly reopened the runway later that evening after a full inspection.
The disruption spread beyond the two emergency aircraft. Several inbound flights to Nantes were diverted or canceled, while departures also faced cancellations and delays. The episode underlined how quickly a single-runway airport can become constrained when one aircraft emergency blocks the landing surface and another inbound flight is already committed to the arrival sequence.
For Ryanair passengers, the result was an unexpected arrival at Brest rather than Nantes. For controllers and crews, the priority was straightforward: get the low-fuel aircraft onto a safe runway as quickly as possible once Nantes was no longer available.
