Liam Corcoran had apparently run away from his mother while she was shopping at the Wythenshawe civic centre, close to Manchester airport, yesterday and had been reported missing.
When he arrived at terminal one, he followed another family, going unnoticed with thousands of people heading off on their summer holidays. Security staff scanned him but failed to realise he was on his own and had no boarding card, passport, tickets or money, the Guardian reported.
The boy then arrived in the departure lounge and headed to one of the gates where passengers were boarding Jet2.Com flight LS791 to Rome. He managed to bypass a security check at the gate without being asked to show either a passport or a boarding card.
Once on the aircraft, none of the crew realised he did not have a boarding card as he took a seat. A headcount failed to alert them to the discrepancy.
The jet took off as normal and it was only during the journey to Italy that passengers became suspicious of the boy and told the cabin crew. The crew members alerted the captain who radioed back to Manchester.
Police at Manchester airport then called the boy's mother to tell her that her son had been found safe and well
