Passengers on a Ryanair flight which left Malta at around noon on Saturday, were made to stay on board for over an hour after landing in Dublin because of fears that a young girl had been struck down with chicken pox.

Reports published in the Evening Herald Irish newspaper said that passengers were forced to stay on board the Ryanair flight after a 'not fit to travel' medical certificate was presented for the girl. After the three-and-a-half-hour flight to Dublin landed at 3.45pm on Saturday, passengers were restricted to the plane over fears that others on the flight could have contracted the disease.

Meanwhile, cabin crew refused to let an airport-based doctor examine the young girl preferring to wait to contact the family's own general practitioner. The girl's nationality is not known.

After having waited for over an hour, passengers were left in the dark and told only that they needed to be examined because there was a sick child on the plane. The report said the airline staff at the airport did not seem to know what was happening.

A spokesperson for Ryanair confirmed to the Irish newspaper that the incident involved a young child who was returning from a family holiday and who was suspected of having contracted the disease.

"The child aboard the flight was suspected of having chicken pox and the delay period was to allow staff to verify with a doctor whether the child had passed the period when the infection could spread," a Ryanair spokesperson explained.