Airbus grounded… by a squirrel

A NON-UNION affiliated squirrel caused much embarrassment at Cyprus Airways, when an Airbus was grounded and tourists delayed as the little rodent wreaked havoc on board.

Airline executives held their hands up yesterday in recognition of defeat by the pet squirrel, which cost the company £50,000 in lost revenue as flights had to be rescheduled.

The squirrel was smuggled on board by his child owner in Athens on Sunday afternoon, but it seems the pet took a run for freedom when he was let out for some food.

“The boy let it out of the bag when he went to the toilet and it escaped, and we spent the next 24-hours looking for it,” said company spokesman Tassos Angeli yesterday.

The Airbus A-320 from Athens was grounded for 24-hours at Larnaca airport while engineers and crew painstakingly searched the aircraft for the evasive bushy-tailed mammal.

In a desperate attempt to flush him out, the airline even contemplated fumigating the plane, but then decided on a more natural method – sprinkling some strategic nuts.

Fears that the sharp-toothed rodent would gnaw away at cables and wiring proved unfounded when the miscreant finally surrendered to his stomach.

However, the debt-ridden carrier has written-off another loss and adopted the squirrel until the owner reclaims it.

“We have urged the boy to come forward and claim his pet. We promise not to be angry with him,” said Angeli.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.