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  "path": "/news/tui-passengers-london-bound-flight-escaped-snake-thats-still-missing-days-later",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-10T09:21:14.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Tui flight left stranded in remote town in near-freezing temperatures 2,000 miles away from final destination",
    "Tui forced into U-turn on compensation for woman who 'might never get better' after horrific holiday accident",
    "Tui slapped with legal action by more than 1,700 Britons after falling sick in Cape Verde",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nA snake which had been smuggled onto a flight bound for Britain is still missing days later.\n\nThe reptile was brought on board a TUI flight from Cancun in Mexico to London Gatwick.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nIn an incident that echoes the cult Samuel L Jackson film from 2006, Snakes on a Plane, the reptile was let loose on board the aircraft.\n\nEven more shockingly, none of the 345 passengers on board clocked the stowaway.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nWhile it was initially suspected the snake was \"mildly venomous\", TUI has now refuted these claims.\n\nThe snake was eventually discovered by a cleaner, who made the shocking discovery after the plane had landed at Gatwick.\n\nAn airport worker managed to spot the reddish-brown snake, thought to have been smuggled on at Cancun, before it disappeared.\n\nThe creature is theorised to be a lizard-eating Salmon-bellied Racer, usually found in the tropical dry forests throughout Central America.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe Salmon-bellied Racer is not venomous but is known to bite people if caught.\n\nAnimal experts and engineers have attempted to find the reptile on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which had to be taken out of service.\n\nLast night, the aircraft was still grounded, reports The Sun.\n\nSources at Tui said trying to find the snake is like \"trying to find a needle in a haystack\", and it was adhering to International Civil Aviation Organisation guidelines.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Tui flight left stranded in remote town in near-freezing temperatures 2,000 miles away from final destination\n  * Tui forced into U-turn on compensation for woman who 'might never get better' after horrific holiday accident\n  * Tui slapped with legal action by more than 1,700 Britons after falling sick in Cape Verde\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nA source said: \"It beggars belief that a passenger brought the mock viper on board. It’s not known what damage the snake could do to the mechanics of the plane.\n\n\"The sight of the snake almost gave the airline cleaners a heart attack. But by the time they had raised the alarm the animal had disappeared.\n\n\"There was no way the airliner could be allowed to take off again. If passengers had seen the snake at 30,000ft there would have been blind panic and pandemonium on board.\"\n\nA spokesman for Tui told GB News there has been no impact to the airline's flight schedule as a result or any impact to customers.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTui recently revealed a 10 per cent drop in UK summer bookings as consumers hesitate to make bookings and switch destinations.\n\nThe holiday firm confirmed it took a €61million (£39million) hit from the Iran war and hurricanes in Jamaica.\n\nEurope’s largest travel operator is one of several firms to be impacted by the conflict in the Middle East, which began at the end of February.\n\nIt said booked revenues for summer were down seven per cent compared with 2025 for its tours and airline, falling to 10 per cent for the UK market alone.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Tui flight left shocked after snake discovered on board London-bound plane"
}