The Egyptian Smart Airlines plane that was held in Sweden was released on Friday to take off from Malmo Airport.
A Swiss company had chartered the plane for a private flight to Sweden. Some of the passengers were Syrians who claimed to have residency permits in Italy and could therefore enter Sweden without a visa.
However upon arrival at Malmo Airport, the Swedish authorities found that the residence permits were fake, and the passengers requested political asylum.
Smart Airlines Chairman Roshdie Zakariya said the Swedish authorities confirmed that neither the airline nor the crew were responsible for the incident, and released the plane for take off.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
