Ryanair flight makes emergency landing in Greece

ATHENS (Reuters) – A Ryanair flight en route from Berlin to Athens made an emergency landing at Thessaloniki airport on Friday with 164 people on board, Greek authorities said.

The flight issued a distress signal and sought permission to make an emergency landing while flying over the Halkidiki region of Greece, the civil protection ministry said.

The ministry said the crew had reported a fire, but a Ryanair spokeswoman said the emergency had been triggered by an “unidentified odour in the cockpit and cabin” and that there had been no fire.

Emergency protocols were deployed and the aircraft landed safely at Thessaloniki’s Macedonia airport, where 157 ticketed passengers, an infant and six members of the crew disembarked, the ministry said.

In a statement, Ryanair apologised to passengers, who it said boarded a replacement aircraft to Athens within two hours.

(Reporting By Michele Kambas and Conor Humphries; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Dan Grebler)