NEW YORK, May 28. /TASS/. CEO of Ryanair Michael O’Leary believes that the recent incident involving an emergency landing of the airline’s flight in Minsk was a "premeditated and unlawful" hijacking, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing a letter sent by O’Leary to the Belarusian aviation department.
According to the newspaper, the Ryanair plane incident is described as "an illegal and reprehensible action" in the letter.
Apart from that, the Ryanair chief slammed Minsk’s version of events as false.
On May 23, a Vilnius-bound Ryanair plane that took off from Athens made an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport after a reported bomb threat. A MiG-29 fighter was scrambled to escort the plane into Minsk. After the landing, the plane was inspected and no bomb was found inside. The Belarusian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into a false bomb alert. Among the passengers on the flight was Roman Protasevich, one of the co-founders of the Nexta Telegram channel, which Minsk recognizes as extremist. Protasevich was detained by law enforcement officials once the plane had landed in the Belarusian capital. On Sunday evening, the plane left Minsk airport and continued to Vilnius.