The National Police and the Civil Guard were deployed in the early hours of Friday morning to Palma airport to prevent possible incidents during the unscheduled stopovers of two flights bound for Germany from Morocco and Namibia.
According to the police, the operation followed the protocol for unscheduled stopovers that was developed after the landing due to a false health alarm in November 2021 of a flight originating in Casablanca from which 22 passengers fled with the intention of illegally entering Spain.
In this morning’s cases, the incidents were resolved smoothly and both flights resumed their journeys to German airports.
In addition to the state security forces, the deployment involved security guards from private companies, health services, firefighters and staff from different areas of Palma airport.
To recap: an Air Arabia Maroc Airbus bound from Casablanca to Istanbul made an emergency landing at Palma Son Sant Joan Airport on November 5 because of what turned out to be a faked medical emergency.
During the chaos, 24 Moroccans, all of whom were aged between 20 and 23, apart from two who were in their mid to late 40s, did a runner, escaped from the airport and led to the airport being closed for over three hours.
The incident, the first of its kind in the world, made global headlines.
All of the escapees, apart from the two eldest, were eventually tracked down to various locations in Mallorca and arrested.