Messi's £12 Million Personalised Private Jet Makes Emergency Landing at Brussels Airport - Reports

A personalised luxury jet rented by Argentinian football icon Lionel Messi was forced to make an emergency landing at Brussels airport on Friday morning, reported The Sun.

The £12 million plane used by the forward and captain of both Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina national team was flying to Tenerife in the Canary Islands when alleged landing gear issues grounded the aircraft at Zaventem Airport in the Belgian capital Brussels.

According to Belgian news media outlet HLN, the jet landed around 9.10am on Friday, 3 April.

Tragedy Averted: Lionel Messi’s Private Jet Reportedly Makes an Emergency Landing at Brussels Airport After Developing Technical Fault... 🙏 pic.twitter.com/cFBSKVQycW

— MOLATsportgist ™🇳🇬 (@Molatsportgist) April 3, 2020

​After the technical issues were dealt with, the plane took off again, only to be forced to turn round and return to Brussels less than an hour-and-a-half later.

According to data from Flight Aware, the aircraft headed from San Carlos de Bariloche in Argentina to Guararapes aiport in Recife, Brazil, after which it then took off from Recife at 7.19pm local time last night, landing in Brussels about 9 hours later.

After the stopover in the Belgian capital, instead of proceeding with its scheduled journey to Tenerife, it is understood that the plane was forced to turn back.

Officials at the Brussels airport did not offer any official comment, due to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation.
There has been no information as to who was in the jet.

Earlier, the jet had made flights from Argentina to Port Elizabeth, South Africa and back on the weekend of 21-22 March, writes The Sun.

The Gulfstream V jet is regularly rented by the football celebrity, who has ensured it was personalised to his taste.

Previously, the publication wrote that the jet was made by a company in Argentina and tailor-suited to the needs of Messi, the winner of a record six Ballon d’Or awards.

It boasts such features as a kitchen, two bathrooms, and seating to accommodate at least 16 people.

In a personal flourish, the names of his wife and three children have been written on the entrance of stairs on the plane.