Ryanair boss calls diversion incident ‘state sponsored piracy’ as Latvia bans Belarus overflights

The Ryanair flight carrying a Belarusian dissident was flying from Athens to Vilnius

Koichiko Koichiko
May 24, 2021 - 15:07
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Ryanair boss calls diversion incident ‘state sponsored piracy’ as Latvia bans Belarus overflights

The boss of Ryanair has called the forced landing of a jet in Minsk to detain a dissident journalist “state-sponsored hijacking”.

Ryanair flight 4978 was flying from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania, when it was forced to divert to Minsk because air-traffic controllers in Belarus told the pilots of a “potential security threat on board”.

There were more than 120 passengers onboard the Boeing 737 aircraft.

Belarusian dissident, Roman Protasevich, was aboard the Ryanair flight. He and his partner were apprehended when the plane landed in Minsk, the Belarus capital.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary told Irish Newstalk radio this morning that the incident was “a case of state-sponsored hijacking... state-sponsored piracy”.

“It appears the intent of the authorities was to remove a journalist and his travelling companion... we believe there were some KGB agents offloaded at the airport as well,” he said.

It comes as Latvian airline airBaltic announced it will no longer use Belarus airspace for its flights, according to a spokesperson.

European leaders are meeting today to discuss possible sanctions on Belarus.

Additional reporting by agencies

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