An easyJet flight from the UK to Turkey was diverted to Greece early on Sunday after two passengers became drunk, unruly and started shouting at fellow passengers and crew, according to the authorities.
The two Russian men, aged 48 and 39, were arrested after the plane was forced to divert to the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. The scheduled flight from Manchester was due to land in Dalaman in southwestern Turkey.
They have since been charged with disturbing the peace, disrupting transport and disobeying the crew’s instructions. There was no physical altercation, authorities said.
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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 on Sunday.
The incident comes after a flight from Liverpool to Dalaman had to be diverted to Munich in April of this year. The plane was met by police on the tarmac after two passengers started behaving "disruptively" onboard.
At the time, a spokesperson from easyJet said: "easyJet can confirm that the flight EZY3409 from Liverpool to Dalaman on 19 April diverted to Munich and was met by police due to two passengers behaving disruptively onboard. easyJet’s cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time.
“Whilst such incidents are rare we take them very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour onboard. The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always easyJet's priority.”
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