Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary has told British parliamentarians that he does not support a long term ban on planes using Belarusian airspace but that action had been needed after the forced landing of a flight last month to deter other states. On May 23rd authorities in Belarus scrambled a warplane to force a Ryanair flight carrying opposition journalist Roman Protasevich to land in Minsk. Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary told a British parliamentary committee on Tuesday that while he supported those measures, the aviation industry depended in the long term on unrestricted access to all airspace, something he said should be restored. "The freedom to overfly states is something that we have perhaps taken for granted for the last 70-80 years." He said that would require assurances from Belarusian, and or Russian authorities.

Source: Irish Independent June 15, 2021 11:22 UTC