A 30-year-old British man died in an incident at an airport terminal in southwest Turkey before he was to fly back to Britain, his airline said on Wednesday.

Turkish media reports said that the man fell to his death from the gate at Dalaman airport on Tuesday morning following a dispute with the Jet2 airline's crew.

The British budget carrier confirmed that one of its passengers had died at the airport “following an incident inside the terminal”.

“Contrary to some reports, we can confirm that the customer was not injured on our aircraft or in the vicinity of our aircraft,” it said, saying it would not give further comment while the investigation continues.

A British foreign ministry spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British man following his death in Turkey and we are in touch with the local authorities.”

Dogan news agency said there was a dispute between the man and crew as he boarded the flight.

The cabin crew informed the pilot and the man was forced to leave the plane on the grounds of jeopardising flight safety.

After he was taken out of the plane, he fell from airport's personnel exit gate, at a height of 15 metres (50 feet) on the second floor of the building.

The heavily wounded man, who lost consciousness and suffered rib fractures, was taken to hospital but could not be saved, Dogan said.

It said he had been waiting at Dalaman airport for three days to find an air ticket back to Britain.

It was not immediately clear if he had a valid boarding pass for that fight or why he had been unable to find a ticket for three days.

Dalaman is a popular entry point for British tourists to Turkey, providing easy access to popular holiday spots including Fethiye and Marmaris.