Passengers flying to Italy from Norwich faced delays of almost 24 hours because of bad weather.

The Viking Airlines flight, operated by Newmarket Holidays, was scheduled to depart from Norwich International Airport at 1.45pm on Sunday.

But it was initially delayed for four hours and then the decision was taken not to fly that day because of bad weather conditions.

The passengers, many of whom were elderly, then had to board buses which took them to Stansted Airport, where they were given overnight accommodation.

They finally left for their destination at 11am yesterday.

Deanna Auker, spokeswoman for Norwich International Airport, said: “The weather conditions were bad on the runway, and the captain was not happy taking off in these conditions.”

Andy Jones, Air Product Director of the Newmarket Group, said that due to safety reasons, the pilot of Sunday’s Viking Airlines flight to Verona decided that the flight was unable to take off from Norwich Airport.

Mr Jones added: “The adverse weather conditions around the airport at the time of the departure were such, that in his opinion, it was unsafe to operate the flight. As the safety of the passengers is always paramount, the decision to operate is and will always be up to the pilot, as he is the most qualified in these situations.

“This was a very regrettable situation for which we offer our customers our unreserved apologies for the delay and inconvenience they have experienced.”