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RYANAIR

Norway PM ‘will never travel with Ryanair’

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary was in Norway on Thursday to reject accusations that his low-cost airline treated its employees like slaves, as unions and politicians in the Scandinavian state called for a boycott of the firm.

Norway PM 'will never travel with Ryanair'
Photo: Aurelijus Valeiša

His trip came as two former stewards prepared to sue the Irish carrier for unfair dismissal and breaching labour laws.

"It was a contract of slavery," said Vegard Einan of the Parat union that is assisting the two women in their lawsuit.

O'Leary, speaking to reporters at Rygge airport, said that his firm fully respected European legislation and that he was the victim of "a series of false claims".

The airline is the target of growing criticism in Norway, where politicians and unions are calling for travellers to boycott it because of its contested labour practices.

On Wednesday, Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg declared that he would never travel with Ryanair, a no-frills airline which makes most of its money by charging for optional extras.

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RYANAIR

UPDATE: Ryanair passenger jet makes emergency landing in Berlin over ‘fake bomb threat’

Polish police said Monday they were investigating a fake bomb threat that forced a Ryanair passenger plane travelling from Dublin to Krakow to make an emergency landing in Berlin.

UPDATE: Ryanair passenger jet makes emergency landing in Berlin over 'fake bomb threat'
A Ryanair flight making an emergency landing

The flight from Dublin to Krakow made the unexpected diversion after a reported bomb threat, German newspaper Bild Zeitung said.

“We were notified by the Krakow airport that an airport employee received a phone call saying an explosive device had been planted on the plane,” said regional police spokesman, Sebastian Glen.

“German police checked and there was no device, no bomb threat at all. So we know this was a false alarm,” he told AFP on Monday.

“The perpetrator has not been detained, but we are doing everything possible to establish their identity,” Glen added, saying the person faces eight years in prison.

With 160 people on board, the flight arrived at the Berlin Brandenburg airport shortly after 8 pm Sunday, remaining on the tarmac into early Monday morning.

A Berlin police spokesperson said that officers had completed their security checks “without any danger being detected”.

“The passengers will resume their journey to Poland on board a spare aeroplane,” she told AFP, without giving more precise details for the alert.

The flight was emptied with the baggage also searched and checked with sniffer dogs, German media reported.

The passengers were not able to continue their journey until early Monday morning shortly before 4:00 am. The federal police had previously classified the situation as harmless. The Brandenburg police are now investigating the case.

Police said that officers had completed their security checks “without any danger being detected”.

“The Ryanair plane that made an emergency landed reported an air emergency and was therefore immediately given a landing permit at BER,” airport spokesman Jan-Peter Haack told Bild.

“The aircraft is currently in a safe position,” a spokeswoman for the police told the newspaper.

The incident comes a week after a Ryanair flight was forced to divert to Belarus, with a passenger — a dissident journalist — arrested on arrival.

And in July last year, another Ryanair plane from Dublin to Krakow was forced to make an emergency landing in London after a false bomb threat.

READ ALSO: Germany summons Belarus envoy over forced Ryanair landing

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