Passengers angry after flight to Greece diverted to Romania

THESSALONIKI, Greece – For about 200 passengers, the flight from London to Thessaloniki in northern Greece took almost 24 hours.

Foggy conditions in Thessaloniki airport led Ryanair to divert the flight to the city of Timisoara in western Romania, late Friday.

Many passengers, already grumbling that the diversion was not made to an airport closer to their destination were outraged when the company offered buses to take them the 770-kilometre (480-mile) distance in freezing weather.

A total of 89 refused to take up the offer, despite what they said was pressure from airport authorities, who kept them in the baggage area overnight.

Some contacted Greek media and the Greek government arranged with Greek carrier Aegean Airlines to send a plane to Timisoara.

The 89 passengers arrived in Thessaloniki around 5 p.m. Saturday.