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Post by Big Blue on May 26, 2021 8:52:40 GMT
Every serious event has a comic side. Apparently after years of jokes about Ryanair published destinations being far away from their landing airports a passenger on the Vilnius flight that was forced to land in Minsk got off at the hijack stop as it was closer to his destination.
The two airports are almost 200km apart!
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Post by Alex on May 26, 2021 9:11:58 GMT
Joking aside the situation does set a dangerous president if states think they can just start plucking planes out of the sky should someone they don't like be on board. Had this mission gone wrong or Ryanair refused to land and this journalist was required to be silenced at whatever cost, this could have ended in a civilian passenger jet being blown out the sky.
I'm not sure how the Belerusan government ever thought this would be a good idea other than the fact they knew that Putin would have their back and despite sanctions being put in place, ultimately they'd have their man and get away with it without serious repercussions.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2021 10:07:00 GMT
The government there, the president especially, has very close ties to Putin's gang. Not up to snuff with the general world at the moment with the news teams giving Cummins and goins lots of air time but the opportunity for this to escalate is quite good.
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Post by Roadsterstu on May 26, 2021 10:13:13 GMT
Ryanair themselves have been very quiet, in the face of conflicting reports the pilots did as requested immediately or there was some initial refusal. Either way, I'm surprised Ryanair haven't said anything at all.
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Post by Alex on May 26, 2021 12:07:00 GMT
Ryanair themselves have been very quiet, in the face of conflicting reports the pilots did as requested immediately or there was some initial refusal. Either way, I'm surprised Ryanair haven't said anything at all. Michael O'Leary has been speaking out. He's called it state sponsored piracy and it's hard to argue with him on that one. |
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Post by Tim on May 26, 2021 12:43:03 GMT
Ryanair
That well known Irish airline from Poland!
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Post by Big Blue on May 26, 2021 14:18:59 GMT
Ryanair That well known Irish airline from Poland! They're close enough..... |
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Post by garry on May 26, 2021 14:27:27 GMT
They sell lottery tickets on Ryanair. The phrase "It could be you" doesn't fill me with comfort on those flights
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Post by Ben on May 26, 2021 14:31:29 GMT
Apparently Lukashenko (sp?) implied that if the plane had not complied with instructions he would have had it shot down. So it seemed like a very dangerous situation indeed.
I hope there would be serious repercussions for Belarus.
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Post by Martin on May 26, 2021 15:52:32 GMT
I was booked (by work) on a Ryanair flight once, it was the worst / most uncomfortable flight I’ve ever had. Never again.
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Post by alf on May 26, 2021 16:07:41 GMT
I found this extraordinary, just as I did the two murders of Russian secret service defectors on UK soil.
I'd like to think they could have called their bluff on this, it seems very unlikely they really would have shot it down and it was almost out of Belarussian airspace - but of course there is precedent for Russians shooting down airliners, back in the 80's when they somehow thought a navigationally challenged 747 was on a spy mission (having visually checked out it was a 747 with all the lights on) and a US ship shot down that Iranian airliner thinking it was an attacking fighter, so best play safe.
What I find most incredible is the scale of the crime vs the reward. It shows the absolute disrespect for any form of law or decency. This was an incredibly dangerous, inflammatory act, and for what? One young journalist. Big deal. It shows a total and utter lack of rational or reasonable thinking.
Whereas the two Russian murders on UK soil show a total "f**k you" approach to law and justice - to use internationally banned WMD to murder someone in a NATO country, and in the other case a radioactive element, in both cases easily traceable to Russia is just an incredible provocation.
The Belarussian leader is just a low-life dictator of a tin pot country the likes of which we have seen many of, but Putin still worries me greatly - I have a history degree and his cunning, and methods, and focus are the most like a certain German ex-dictator that I have ever seen - it's a huge worry.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2021 18:20:05 GMT
He is backed by a Russian leader who has the paranoia of Ioseph Stalin the WW2 Russian leader who killed at least ten million of his own people. As soon as people come under suspicion they are at risk. Unless he pops his clogs and the Russians get a more middle of the road leader, there is a chance of a major European conflict. That he and the other two are working together seems almost obvious and the Belorussian fool is just clinging to the coat tails of the others.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on May 26, 2021 18:58:00 GMT
Putin must be furious with him; Russia is in no financial position to bankroll an isolated Belarus.
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Post by Andy C on May 26, 2021 19:58:30 GMT
I was booked (by work) on a Ryanair flight once, it was the worst / most uncomfortable flight I’ve ever had. Never again. It’s not that bad ! Especially on the newer planes with new seats. .It’s no real difference to easyJet , tui, , are lingus , BA on short hall. I’ve been to Lanzarote and Tenerife (4hrs) and didn’t have a problem with them. Especially when the flights were about £70 |
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Post by Martin on May 26, 2021 20:25:07 GMT
I was booked (by work) on a Ryanair flight once, it was the worst / most uncomfortable flight I’ve ever had. Never again. It’s not that bad ! Especially on the newer planes with new seats. .It’s no real difference to easyJet , tui, , are lingus , BA on short hall. I’ve been to Lanzarote and Tenerife (4hrs) and didn’t have a problem with them. Especially when the flights were about £70 I’m only going back about 5 years, but the legroom was so poor I couldn’t sit fully square in the seat without my knees pushing against the backrest in front, maybe the new seats are better. But I’m still out! I fly EasyJet from Luton to Edinburgh a few times a year, but even such on a short flight I book extra legroom and hope the row isn’t full, so I’m not right next to someone. There have been some pretty bad experiences with larger people and ‘spreaders’, I couldn’t risk that on a 4 hour flight. Mind you, at £70, I wonder if they would let you book a full row plus the one in front and behind?! |
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Post by Alex on May 26, 2021 20:28:19 GMT
I was booked (by work) on a Ryanair flight once, it was the worst / most uncomfortable flight I’ve ever had. Never again. It’s not that bad ! Especially on the newer planes with new seats. .It’s no real difference to easyJet , tui, , are lingus , BA on short hall. I’ve been to Lanzarote and Tenerife (4hrs) and didn’t have a problem with them. Especially when the flights were about £70 I think Martin has become accustomed to being able to turn left when boarding a plane and not being herded into cattle class! |
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Post by Martin on May 26, 2021 20:41:05 GMT
It’s not that bad ! Especially on the newer planes with new seats. .It’s no real difference to easyJet , tui, , are lingus , BA on short hall. I’ve been to Lanzarote and Tenerife (4hrs) and didn’t have a problem with them. Especially when the flights were about £70 I think Martin has become accustomed to being able to turn left when boarding a plane and not being herded into cattle class! That’s not true. Sometimes my seat is upstairs!  |
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Post by cbeaks1 on May 26, 2021 21:37:51 GMT
I couldn’t get close to being able to sit in a non emergency exit seat on the last RyanAir I took to Dublin. Not just uncomfortable, actually impossible.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on May 27, 2021 5:17:15 GMT
I won’t fly Ryanair simply because they’re cunts.
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