Ryanair Flight Under Considerable Covert Pressure to Land in Belarus: Airline Boss

The Ryanair plane with registration number SP-RSM, carrying opposition figure Raman Pratasevich which was traveling from Athens to Vilnius and was diverted to Minsk after a bomb threat, lands at the International Airport outside Vilnius, Lithuania, on May 23, 2021. Mindaugas Kulbis/AP Photo

The pilot of the Ryanair passenger aircraft that was diverted to lank in Minsk, Belarus, was put under covert but “considerable pressure,” Michael O’Leary, the CEO of the Irish airline said on Tuesday.

Ryanair Flight 4978 was on its way to Vilnius, Lithuania, from Athens, Greece, when it was alerted to a bomb threat and diverted to the Belarusian capital on May 23.