Ryanair Flight 4978

Ryanair Flight 4978 was a regularly-scheduled international passenger flight from Athens International Airport, Greece, to Vilnius Airport, Lithuania, operated by the Polish subsidiary Buzz. On 23 May 2021, while in Belarusian airspace, it was diverted by the Belarusian government to Minsk National Airport where two of its passengers, opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, were arrested by authorities. The flight was escorted to Minsk by a Belarusian fighter jet, under the pretence of a bomb threat, on the orders of the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. The aircraft was allowed to depart after seven hours, reaching Vilnius eight and a half hours behind schedule.

Ryanair Flight 4978

Ryanair Flight 4978 was a regularly-scheduled international passenger flight from Athens International Airport, Greece, to Vilnius Airport, Lithuania, operated by the Polish subsidiary Buzz. On 23 May 2021, while in Belarusian airspace, it was diverted by the Belarusian government to Minsk National Airport where two of its passengers, opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, were arrested by authorities. The flight was escorted to Minsk by a Belarusian fighter jet, under the pretence of a bomb threat, on the orders of the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. The aircraft was allowed to depart after seven hours, reaching Vilnius eight and a half hours behind schedule.