Thomson flight escorted by fighter jets in security alert
Fighter jets were scrambled to escort a Thomson Airways flight yesterday after an apparent bomb alert.
The Boeing 757 flight from Bristol to Sharm-el-Sheikh was diverted into Athens by the Greek fighter jets.
The 213 passengers on board were evacuated from the plane while checks were made but nothing was found
According to the BBC, the threat was received by an Egyptian news agency and passed on to the flight crew.
A spokesman for Thomson said the crew decided to make the diversion “as a precaution and in the interest of safety”.
“There were no customer injuries as a result of the alert and all customers and crew were looked after in the terminal building while the investigation was conducted,” said the spokesman.
Once the flight got clearance, it operated as planned to Sharm el Sheikh, arriving 6hrs 15mins behind schedule.
Thomson said all customers are now in resort.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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