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.

The act was condemned by the European Union (EU), NATO, the United Kingdom, and the United States, among others, and by some civil aviation authorities. Russia supported Belarus. The EU and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued directives halting European airlines from flying over Belarusian airspace.
Q211734
Athens International Airport
LOC
Q41
Greece
LOC
Q847711
Vilnius Airport
LOC
Q37
Lithuania
LOC
Q55165235
Buzz
ORG
Q184
Belarus
LOC
Q272730
airspace
Concept
Q997640
Belarusian government
ORG
Q777855
Minsk National Airport
LOC
Q106949139
Roman Protasevich
UNK
Q127771
fighter jet
Concept
Q834368
bomb threat
UNK
Q1049659
President of Belarus
PER
Q2866
Alexander Lukashenko
PER
Q458
European Union
ORG
Q7184
NATO
Concept
Q276255
European Union Aviation Safety Agency
ORG
Q106949910
Ryanair Flight 4978
UNK
4978-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
4978
DATE
2021-05-23T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
23 May 2021
DATE
country
country
executive body
country
country
position held