Ryanair ‘hijack’ to Minsk could have serious consequences for Belarus

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A budget airline flight between two European Union capitals is suddenly forced to land on the orders of a third country: Sunday’s diversion to Minsk of Ryanair flight 4978 from Athens to Vilnius looks deeply troubling. The International Civil Aviation Organisation tweeted that it was “strongly concerned by the apparent forced landing of a Ryanair flight and its passengers, which could be in contravention of the Chicago Convention”. While the Belarus capital might have been filed as an “alternate” destination in case of problems in Vilnius, there was no clear reason why the Lithuanian airport would not be used: it was operating normally, with a Ryanair flight from Barcelona and an SAS flight from Copenhagen arriving on either side of the appointed time for flight FR4978 to touch down. He told BBC Today: “For the sake of security of air travel in Europe and beyond, this unprecedented, outrageous action not go unpunished.” If it is shown that Belarus invented a security threat to force an EU passenger aircraft to divert for the purposes of arresting an opponent of President Alexander Lukashenko, the consequences could be very serious.