Brit, 22, arrested after ‘fighting with passengers & crew’ onboard easyJet flight to Cyprus
A BRIT has been arrested after allegedly fighting with passengers and crew on an easyJet flight to Cyprus.
The flight was on its way from London to Paphos, Cyprus, but was diverted to Thessaloniki, Greece, late on Friday after the disturbance erupted.
The 22-year-old man faces a number of charges in Greece, including endangering transportation, passenger and crew safety.
The man appeared in court on Saturday to face the charges.
Along with unruly behaviour and fighting with fellow passengers and crew, it is also claimed a number of empty bottles of alcohol were found on his seat.
The man is being held pending an appearance before an examining magistrate on Monday - where he will answer the charges or be given a few days to do so.
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Greek police who drew up charge sheet against the Briton say it is unlikely the young offender "will be treated leniently."
"To have to divert an airplane because of unruly behaviour is very costly and disrupts air traffic as well," one well-placed cop told SunOnline. "It is very unlikely he will be treated leniently."
The severity of the charges was such that the 22-year-old will "almost certainly" request a 48-hour period to prepare his defence when he appears before an examining magistrate in Thessaloniki on Monday.
"He will almost certainly use his ability to delay the procedure so he can prepare his testimony," another officer said. "We will not be naming him."
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A spokesperson for easyJet said: "easyJet can confirm that flight EZY8935 from London Gatwick to Paphos on 2 September was diverted to Thessaloniki and was met by police on arrival due to a passenger behaving disruptively.
"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 towards our staff.
“The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always our highest priority.”
In a separate incident earlier this month, a rowdy passenger was restrained with a seatbelt on a Ryanair flight, reportedly because he refused to stop drinking.
The apparently drunk man is said to have injured a passenger after a dispute with cabin crew escalated mid-flight on August 13
A heated row broke out on board the plane headed to Lithuania from London Luton Airport.
Police reportedly boarded the plane when it had landed at its destination to arrest the unidentified man.
In an unrelated incident at the start of this month, pop star Lee Ryan was arrested after allegedly going berserk on a plane.
The Blue singer is said to have been abusive to cabin crew and refused to sit when they would not serve him a drink.
Passengers claim Ryan, 39, became disruptive during the flight from Glasgow to London City, delaying it by 20 minutes as he was nicked after it landed.
One passenger said: “Never mind singing with Blue, he turned the air blue with his language.
“He became aggressive with the air hostesses once it became clear he wouldn’t get given alcohol.
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"At one point he left his seat and started walking up and down the aisle despite being told to sit down — he even ran behind the cabin crew curtains.
“It was crazy behaviour.”
