At approximately 11:30 pm on Sunday, 21 September 2025, Nouvelair flight BJ586, from Tunis, came within metres of EasyJet flight U24706, after approaching the wrong runway, 04R instead of 04L, at Nice Côte d’Azur airport.
A Misjudged Landing in France
EasyJet passengers said that they heard a “deafening roar” from the Nouvelair Airbus A320 as it passed just 50 feet over the EasyJet A320. The Tunisian aircraft aborted its landing in a dramatic fashion, landing safely on the correct runway 15 minutes later.
Although there were no serious injuries, EasyJet confirmed that the affected departure to Nantes was cancelled.
A spokesperson for EasyJet said:
The safety and well-being of our customers and crew is EasyJet’s highest priority, and in line with procedures, we are fully cooperating with the safety investigation that has been launched in order to understand what happened.
Responses to the Incident
Philippe Tabarot, the French transport minister, took to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, and said:
Yesterday, a significant incident occurred at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, where a collision involving two aircraft from companies Nouvelair and EasyJet was narrowly avoided
I immediatley requested that an investigation be launched by the Bureau of Investigation and Analysis to shed full light on the precise circumstances of this event
The French Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses have since confirmed that an investigation into what has been described as a “serious incident” has been launched.
Nouvelair has spoken and stood with their pilots through the incident, blaming
Particularly difficult meteorological conditions marked by heavy rain and extremely reduced visibility
Reassuring passengers and their crew amidst a nightmare scenario at one of Europe’s busiest airports. The Southern French airport is the second-busiest in the country, handling over 14 million passengers a year according to the airport’s annual statistics.
However, despite its size and popularity, Nice faced a frightful scenario over the weekend.
The incident underscores the importance of strict safety protocols and careful air traffic coordination, particularly in busy airports like Nice. Give us your thoughts in the comments.
