A BRITISH tennis player flying to Lithuania was hauled off a plane and told he’d been deported in a bizarre mix-up.
Stuart Burden, 48, boarded a Wizz Air flight from Luton Airport in his team’s tracksuit with “GB” displayed, only to be moved to the back of the aircraft and then called a “deportee from the UK” when they landed.
The semi-pro was marched from the plane in front of stunned passengers and questioned by officials, even after showing his UK passport.
Mr Burden, from London, had been travelling to Lithuania in August to help visually impaired players at the World Blind Tennis Championships, he told the Daily Mail.
He said he “thought it was a joke at first” when he was approached by officials, having boarded the plane with the rest of his team and taken his paid-for seat while flying with a suitcase full of rackets.
He said: “I was wearing a Union Jack – you couldn’t make it up.
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“I thought it was a joke at first. He told me I had been deported and that I had to go with him.
“I told him I was a tennis player and that my team was also on board. He didn’t accept that.”
Mr Burden said he was escorted from the Wizz Air flight to a police vehicle, then taken for questioning.
His colleagues, who were still on board, asked cabin crew where he was – at which point officials realised their blunder.
The tennis player said he was then marched out of Vilnius Airport by an official who “disappeared” with no apology.
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Having since arrived back in the UK, Mr Burden said the mix-up could’ve meant a genuine legal deportee who should’ve been escorted may have “got away scot free”.
A spokesperson for Wizz Air said: “We are extremely sorry to hear of the experience of a passenger travelling on flight W6 1902 from London Luton to Vilnius on 23 August, and we are working with the relevant authorities to establish the full circumstances of the incident.
“The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew are our highest priority, and our crew cooperated fully with the relevant authorities.”
The Sun has approached Vilnius Airport and the Lithuanian authorities for further comment.