A sleeping teenager flew home to Bulgaria and then back to Malta after aircrew apparently failed to notice she was still on the plane.

Maria Ilieva, 17, was travelling alone and fell asleep on an Air Malta plane taking her overnight from Valletta to Sofia.

Unfortunately she had returned to Malta by the time she woke up, the girl's family said on 1st Sept.

"Air Malta officials said the airplane was not a place for sleeping. But I have not seen any signs saying 'No sleeping', I have only seen signs saying 'No smoking'," said the girl's mother, Nadezhda Vulova.

Maria was finally reunited with her family on Thursday, almost four days after her sleepover. She had to pay 200 euros (134 pounds) for the second flight home.

The family said they had filed a complaint against the airline and asked for a refund. Air Malta was not immediately available for comment.