In a press release, the groups had said they were planning to put solar panels on the runway and do a dance routine dressed as pilots and cabin crew. The operators of SEN plan to extend its runway by 300m to allow larger passenger aircraft to be used.

Katherine Goldberg pleaded guilty to sexual assault and being drunk on an aircraft. She will be sentenced next month.

Her defence solicitor claimed that Lynn Grimes had a fear of flying and drank throughout the flight from Athens in December. She was invited to sit with cabin crew at the rear of the aircraft, but refused to return to her seat when the aircraft began it’s descent into MAN. She became aggressive, and assaulted a member of cabin crew and another pax. She was given an eight-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months.

James Glen, 38, admitted communicating information about a bomb hoax on an Etihad Airways flight heading from Abu Dhabi to Heathrow on 24 January.

The plane was redirected to Stansted Airport and escorted by two RAF jets.

The UPS flight travelled to Istanbul with the package, reportedly containing a timer, wires and a detonator.

The UK Department for Transport said it was taking the matter “very seriously”.

Sentencing him at Woolwich Crown Court, Mr Justice Calvert-Smith said he was a committed jihadist who planned offences “about as grave as could be imagined”.

The judge said he had worked “incessantly” for terrorist purposes.

Former cargo handler Russell Defreitas, 67, had hoped the act would rival the 9/11 terror attacks, prosecutors said.

His co-defendant, Abdul Kadir, a former member of Guyana’s parliament, was given the same sentence in December.

Kevin Dennis, 46, of Cemetery Road, Barnsley, admitted three counts of importing prohibited goods.

Hull Crown Court court heard how a UK Border Agency investigation was started when parcels were intercepted by a London postal depot.

Rajib Karim also pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court to transferring funds for terrorist purposes.

However, the 31-year-old, of Newcastle, denied getting a job at BA in order to pass on information on how to attack the airline’s computer systems.

The Etihad Airways plane from Abu Dhabi was due to land at Heathrow on Monday.

James Glen, 37, appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court in Essex and was remanded in custody until 10 March.