Freee!! Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 RyanAir had a new problem, this time not of their own making. A RyanAir plane from Athens to Vilnius was forced to land in Minsk, where an opposition member was arrested. https://meduza.io/news/2021/05/23/v-minske-zaderzhan-osnovatel-nexta-roman-protasevich-samolet-na-kotorom-on-letel-iz-afin-v-vilnyus-posadili-iz-za-signala-o-bombe-na-bortu https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/ryanair/has-the-belarus-regime-diverted-a-ryanair-flight-transporting-an-opponent/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lantern Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Bit more info here. https://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/640620-now-fr4978-ath-vno-diverted-escorted-minsk-alleged-bomb-threat-but.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillearly Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Bomb scare , so let's fly further than we need to ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forcebwithu Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 Did Belarus 'hijack' a civilian airliner to detain an activist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freee!! Posted May 24, 2021 Author Share Posted May 24, 2021 12 hours ago, Stillearly said: Bomb scare , so let's fly further than we need to ... No choice with a couple of armed military jets on your tail and wing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freee!! Posted May 24, 2021 Author Share Posted May 24, 2021 Correct response would be a prohibition for all NATO/EU registered airplanes to cross Belarus airspace, a prohibition for all Belarus registered airplanes to enter NATO/EU airspace and a complete prohibition to enter NATO/EU airspace from Belarus airspace (that will force Aeroflot -and Asian airlines- to circumnavigate the Belarus airspace as well). The outcome won't only be improved safety, but also to deny Belarus the income derived from airplanes overflying it and using Belarus ATC. Bonus points if Vladimir Vladimirovich decides enough is enough and joins these sanctions (he already is pretty fed up with Lukashenko). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillearly Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 1 hour ago, Freee!! said: No choice with a couple of armed military jets on your tail and wing. I know but just showing the excuses of the Balarus authorities don't make any sense , would they have done this without the backing of Moscow .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freee!! Posted May 24, 2021 Author Share Posted May 24, 2021 4 minutes ago, Stillearly said: I know but just showing the excuses of the Balarus authorities don't make any sense , would they have done this without the backing of Moscow .. As Lukashenko has done enough stupid things without the backing of Moscow and some of those seriously pissed off Vladimir Vladimirovich, the chances are pretty good this one falls into that category as well. Putin isn't quite as stupid as Lukashenko to put it mildly. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butch Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 The tabloids are having a field day, quite right too. State sponsored hijacking is what it boils down to. I think this is going to gather some momentum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggles Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 They are trying to say they landed because of a bomb scare. What they dont say, and it is quite obvious from the above map, the diversion to Minsk was longer than going to the nearest airport which was their destination anyway. So the risk to passengers was increased. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lantern Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 I think the "Bomb scare" was just words that were used in case they decided to shoot it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forcebwithu Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 Good to see a strong response from the EU over Belarus' hijacking of the Ryanair flight. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday said the bloc is "closing our airspace to planes from Belarus" and calling on EU airlines not to fly over the country. She added that "further economic sanctions will be presented soon." https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/24/business/airlines-belarus-air-space/index.html 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freee!! Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 1 hour ago, forcebwithu said: Good to see a strong response from the EU over Belarus' hijacking of the Ryanair flight. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday said the bloc is "closing our airspace to planes from Belarus" and calling on EU airlines not to fly over the country. She added that "further economic sanctions will be presented soon." https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/24/business/airlines-belarus-air-space/index.html Interesting to see only Singapore Airlines mentioned as non-EU airline avoiding Belarus airspace. I'd be interested to learn about THAI, EVA and China Airlines as a lot of their routes to western Europe overfly Belarus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherlock Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 18 minutes ago, Freee!! said: Interesting to see only Singapore Airlines mentioned as non-EU airline avoiding Belarus airspace. I'd be interested to learn about THAI, EVA and China Airlines as a lot of their routes to western Europe overfly Belarus. Watching FlightRadar24 earlier. A Couple of different Chinese airlines flying over Belarus, as well as Ethiopian and Qatar Airways Cargo flights too! Chinese flights seemed to have been passenger flights and not Cargo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freee!! Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 22 minutes ago, Sherlock said: Watching FlightRadar24 earlier. A Couple of different Chinese airlines flying over Belarus, as well as Ethiopian and Qatar Airways Cargo flights too! Chinese flights seemed to have been passenger flights and not Cargo. Chinese or Taiwanese? China Airlines is the Taiwanese flag carrier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherlock Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Freee!! said: Chinese or Taiwanese? China Airlines is the Taiwanese flag carrier. Chinese! Air China and China Eastern Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freee!! Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 4 minutes ago, Sherlock said: Chinese! Air China and China Eastern From those I wouldn't expect anything different until that border is closed, just like Lithuania did, prohibiting approach to Vilnius International Airport through Belarus airspace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chappo Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 piracy plain and simple! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freee!! Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Chappo said: piracy plain and simple! True, but how to arrest Lukashenko to hang him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillearly Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coxyhog Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 https://simpleflying.com/uk-caa-suspends-belavia/?fbclid=IwAR3bEkgSTHkFueAOSmWdjIFxOCwl0yJshGSut0OVfFjmtA8W8L5IXY2YLY8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freee!! Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 12 minutes ago, coxyhog said: https://simpleflying.com/uk-caa-suspends-belavia/?fbclid=IwAR3bEkgSTHkFueAOSmWdjIFxOCwl0yJshGSut0OVfFjmtA8W8L5IXY2YLY8 Slightly outdated, shortly after that piece went online (yesterday), KLM also announced it would avoid Belarussian airspace. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KWA Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 On 5/25/2021 at 4:33 AM, biggles said: They are trying to say they landed because of a bomb scare. What they dont say, and it is quite obvious from the above map, the diversion to Minsk was longer than going to the nearest airport which was their destination anyway. So the risk to passengers was increased. If there is a threat to an aircraft they won't always head to the nearest airport, but to one that is better suited to deal with the threat. I don't know about the airports in this story, but in the UK aircraft will go to Stansted rather than any of the other London airports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freee!! Posted May 26, 2021 Author Share Posted May 26, 2021 1 hour ago, KWA said: If there is a threat to an aircraft they won't always head to the nearest airport, but to one that is better suited to deal with the threat. I don't know about the airports in this story, but in the UK aircraft will go to Stansted rather than any of the other London airports. True, but in case of a bomb thread, the airplane will normally head to the nearest (measured in flight time) airport capable of handling the aircraft. As it already was in nearly direct descend to the international airport of Vilnius, diverting to Minsk was at the very least highly questionable. Besides that, I rate the ability of Belarus to handle any threat to an aircraft as way below that of Lithuania. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinoydave Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 Imagine being the pilot knowing that you have no choice but to land and then one of your passengers is going to disappear and his girlfriend tortured Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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