A passenger jet with some 150 people on board was unable to land at its destination in Leipzig because of the absence of air traffic controllers in the tower, the German Frankfurter Rundshau reported on Tuesday.

The pilot of the Irish budget Ryanair flight from London to Leipzig's Altenburg Airport made the decision to fly to Berlin's Schoenefeld Airport where it landed safely.

The absence of an air traffic controller in the tower was due to an error in staff scheduling, according to Markus Asmussen, the regional manager for Tower Company, which is a subsidiary of Germany's air traffic control service.

"Nothing like this has ever happened before," Asmussen said.

Passengers awaiting departure on that flight from Leipzig were bussed to Berlin to catch their flight to London, as those who had arrived in Berlin were bussed to their final destination of Leipzig.

An internal investigation into personnel scheduling is underway.

MOSCOW, March 9 (RIA Novosti)