On August 1, the services of Minsk National Airport ceased their work for a while, Belsat viewers said. The staff, including customs officers, refused to reveal what was going on.
“Customs officers say there are ‘security measures’. It is unknown how much time it will take. The entire airport has just come to a halt,” passengers told Belsat.
What is more, many people who had just arrived were being kept in buses on the tarmac.
“They refuse to let us go, and some people have connecting flights! There are many policemen and security agents everywhere. The child wanted to use a toilet, but he was not allowed! They said they did not know anything, just ‘you may not’. Later, we got information that the airport was blocked due to the fact that Lukashenka and the President of Uzbekistan had arrived,” a Belavia customer, who flew from Warsaw to Minsk, said.
Moreover, the passengers who were leaving the airport, also got into a mess. The traffic police got one of the buses pushed backed from the road in order to ensure free passage to Lukashenka’s cortege.
“I will file a complaint! Such things cannot be done! They crushed out the bus carrying people and moving at the high speed to the roadside,” the driver of one of the buses said.
When reached by Belsat, the airport staff declined to comment forwarding us to the press service. However, on Thursday evening, the working hours might have been over, and the spokesperson failed to answer the phone.
It should be noted that many Western countries set a separate terminal for diplomatic aircraft not to affect the airports’ operations and not to make difficulties to people.
