Ryanair flight a victim of ‘state-sponsored hijacking’
Ryanair has been caught up in an international diplomatic incident involving ‘state-sponsored piracy.’
A Ryanair flight from Italy to Lithuania was forced to land in Minsk, Belarus under the pretext of a possible bomb onboard.
Belarus fighter jets escorted the plane to Minsk where it landed but no explosives were found.
However Belarus did remove journalist and critic of the Belarus government Roman Protasevich from the flight.
The bomb scare was just a ruse to capture Protasevich and amounted to ‘state-sponsored hijacking,’ airline CEO Michael O’Leary said.
He added that it was a ‘frightening experience’ for all passengers who remained in the ground for several hours under armed guard.
"We’re debriefing our crew, who did a phenomenal job to get that aircraft and almost all the passengers out of Minsk after six hours," O’Leary said.
"It appears the intent of the authorities was to remove a journalist and his traveling companion … we believe there were some KGB agents offloaded at the airport as well."
European leaders were outraged at Belarus’ actions.
Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney tweeted: "It is utterly unacceptable. This is an Irish airline with EU citizens on board, forced to land in Minsk, while travelling between EU cities. A strong and united response from EU needed."
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen followed with a tweet: "Any violation of international air transport rules must bear consequences."
The UK’s Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Tugendhat called for a boycott of civilian airlines flying over Belarus.
This is an act of air-piracy, combined with hijacking, and eventually linked to kidnapping," he said.
Tugendhat also called for sanctions against the Belarus government.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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