Drunk passengers force easyJet flight bound for Turkey to land in Greece

Arrested pair will stand trial in November

EasyJet says it takes incidents like this ‘very seriously’ (Getty Images)

Drunk passengers on board a plane heading to Turkey from the UK forced the flight to abandon its route and land in Greece.

The easyJet flight, which departed Manchester airport on Saturday, had been due to land in Dalaman, on the south-west coast of Turkey, but instead ended up on the ground in the Greek city of Thessaloniki after the unruly travellers began shouting at passengers and crew, reports The Mirror.

The low-cost airline told The Independent that they “do not tolerate” behaviour of this kind.

On arrival at the unscheduled stop, two Russian passengers – both men, one aged 39 and the other 48, were arrested and charged with disturbing the peace, disrupting transport and disobeying the instructions of the flight crew.

Fortunately, there was no physical alteration on the flight.

According to reports, the men were released ahead of a trial, which is scheduled for November.

A spokesman for easyJet said: "easyJet can confirm that flight EZY2147 from Manchester to Dalaman on 24 June diverted to Thessaloniki and was met by police due to two passengers behaving disruptively onboard. The flight continued to Dalaman after refuelling.

“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.”

In May, a drunk passenger on a Jet2 flight had to be restrained after he allegedly abused members of the cabin crew, forcing the plane to divert. The flight from Glasgow was also heading to Dalaman but rerouted to Sofia, in Bulgaria, after a passenger put on a “disgraceful and aggressive” display, Jet2 said.

And in January, a man was jailed after he got drunk on an easyJet flight and grabbed a flight attendant by the neck. Colin Smith, 51, of East Yorkshire, admitted he had consumed three-quarters of a bottle of whisky he had bought in Duty Free.