Two MiG-29 fighters took off from Slovakian Sliac Air Base in a bid to find the civilian vessel. According to AirLive, the Italian Airbus 320 had been flying on the Milan-Kharkov route, where it was intercepted. Reports suggest that the pilots of the civilian plane had not been returning ATC’s wishes for a response.
Locals say that the two fighter planes had “broken the sound barrier” with “sonic booms” heard in the vicinity of Rožňava and Košice.
After communication was eventually made, the Airbus continued its journey.
The company is a low-cost airline which is headquartered in Milan.
The fighter jets are twin-engined and were designed in the Soviet Union.
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The planes were developed by the Mikoyan design bureau during the 1970s.
Around 1,600 of them have been built since they were first introduced in 1982.
They are able to perform a number of operations and are commonly outfitted to use a range of air-to-surface armaments and precision munitions.
The development comes after Ernest Airlines confirmed it plans to invest more than 100m euros into the firm with a new office opening in the Ukraine.
The base there will be at Kyiv and will open this summer.
By 2020 the firm plans to have two planes in place at the city’s Sikorsky Kyiv International Airport.
The airport said: “In 2020, it is also planned to place two aircraft in Kyiv.
“This will give even more opportunities for work to even more people in Ukraine.”