2 Passengers Arrested for Unruly, Drunken Behavior After Their Flight Is Diverted to Greece

2 Passengers Arrested for Unruly, Drunken Behavior After Their Flight Is Diverted to Greece
An easyJet aeroplane comes in for landing at Gatwick Airport in London on March 27, 2022. (Hollie Adams/Getty Images)
The Associated Press
6/26/2023
Updated:
6/26/2023

THESSALONIKI, Greece—An easyJet flight from the United Kingdom to Turkey was diverted to Greece early Sunday after two passengers became drunk, unruly, and started shouting at fellow passengers and crew, authorities said.

The two Russian passengers, both men aged 48 and 39, respectively, were arrested after the plane, on a scheduled flight from Manchester to Dalaman in southwestern Turkey, touched down in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki.

The two faced a prosecutor who charged them with disturbing the peace, disrupting transport, and disobeying the crew’s instructions. There was no physical altercation, authorities said.

After they were charged, the two men were released pending trial, which will take place in November and which they are not obligated to attend, but will be represented by their lawyers.

Having arrived in Greece without a visa, they were led to a police precinct but were expected to be put on a flight to Turkey later Sunday.