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AN aircraft has landed safely after being escorted into Prestwick Airport by Typhoon jets.

Police and other emergency services attended at the airport in Ayrshire, in the west of Scotland, for what was described as a major incident.

More than 17 police vehicles, sniffer dogs and fire crews were on scene and parts of Scottish airspace were understood to have been closed as the operation went on.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said an Italian civilian aircraft was escorted to Prestwick by jets from Lossiemouth after it lost communications.

She said the aircraft landed safely and the incident was over.

Police Scotland tweeted: "Police and emergency services present at Prestwick Airport after plane landed safely under escort as safety precaution."

Ayrshire News captured the moment the Italian c27 landed at 8pm escorted by a typhoon jet fighter at 8pm:

The typhoon did not land at the airport.

Scotland two busiest airports were affected by the incident but reported no major delays in departures or arrivals.

A spokesperson for Glasgow Airport said: "Air space was closed for a short while but delays were minimal."

A spokesman for Edinburgh said: "It didn't really affect us. There were some minor delays of 10 to 15 minutes but that's all."

A spokesperson from NATS, which runs air traffic control in the UK, said: "We delayed departures from Glasgow and Edinburgh while the incident was ongoing. That would have last for about 20 or 30 minutes."

Eyewitness Andy Jermond, from Kilwinning, was going past the airport on a bus when the emergency began to unfold.

The former paratrooper said: "I have never seen anything like it, the amount of blue lights and emergency vehicles going into the airport.

"It was like something out of a movie. I couldn't believe my eyes."

A source at the airport told the Daily Record that the main airport building is still open and that a Ryanair flight took off just after 8pm.

He said: "The terminal building is still open but it is definitely not a training exercise.

"I can see six or seven police vehicles and the other major emergency services including four fire engines.

"I have seen training exercises here before and it is nothing like this."

The source added: "The plane landed at 7.54pm. It is now sitting on the emergency runaway.

"It lost communication and at this point we don't know why."It could be anything from a technical fault to a hi-jack."