The second Emirates flight EK 209, bound for New York, landed at Athens International Airport at 21:56. A special counter-terrorist team has reportedly arrived at the Athens Airport.

The second flight, EK 209, had already taken off and was over Italy (Sardinia) when the pilot was notified to land immediately. However, neither France nor Italy allowed the plane to land at any of their airports and so it returned to Athens, the starting point of the route.

In fact, the plane changed course and only went over the sea, avoiding flying over the land. Flight EK 209, with 228 passengers and 18 crew members, at the moment it entered the national airspace, was accompanied by two F16s of our Air Force, which took off at 21:09 from the Souda base.

The Emirates plane was 120 miles southwest of Kalamata when the fighter jets were ordered to take off by NATO.

According to information from the control tower, the suspect’s details and physical features were relayed by the crew to authorities, as well as a copy of his passport. A check was made and nothing was found, however, it was feared that he was travelling with false information.

Now, the Emirates aircraft has been isolated to one side of the runway, where in-plane, passenger, and baggage checks will take place. The plane is not expected to leave Greece today.

At 22:06, flight EK 210, which was stuck on the ground, departed for Dubai, as the passenger check was completed.