Around 150 passengers were stranded at Malta International Airport yesterday after Ryanair cancelled its afternoon flight to Pisa.

Flight FR 993 was due to leave at 5.45 p.m. but was cancelled unexpectedly. The aircraft was expected from Pisa at 5.20 p.m. but failed to turn up.

The passengers were assisted by Air Malta, which flew the passengers to Venice, Rome and Milan at a charge.

When contacted, a spokesman for Ryanair confirmed the cancellation. "The aircraft was grounded after a technical problem. We do apologise but there is nothing we can do. In these circumstances safety comes first."

She said that the company had no alternative but to offer passengers a seat on the next day's flight, since the company did not have a spare aircraft.

A similar incident took place last July when passengers on board a Ryanair flight to Luton were forced to spend the night in Malta after the aircraft aborted take-off due to a technical fault.