Three Chinese Airlines Receive Fake Bomb Threats

False bomb threats affected five different Chinese airlines flights on Wednesday.

According to CNN, three Chinese airlines received threats but the incidents caused disruptions on five different domestic flights. The Civil Aviation Administration of China said the threats appeared to be false. Shenzen Airlines announced on its official microblog that it received multiple threats on planes that were heading to the southern city of Shenzen. Due to the threats, the airline had to reroute two of their flight and delay a third.

Juneyao Airlines had to turn back a flight to Shanghai, which was supposed to go to Shenzen. After the airline received the threat, the plane had to return to Shanghai so passengers and their luggage could be checked again. After the screening, the passengers were able to take off on a different plane.

China Eastern Airlines also received a threat on a flight that was heading from the northern city of Lanzhou to Shenzhen, via the central city of Xi'an. The flight was later cleared for takeoff according to Xinhua. However the flight was delayed for more than two hours.

A Shenzen Airlines flight that was heading from the eastern city of Nanjing was forced to return to its point of departure, a flight from Xi'an was forced to change its course and land in the southwestern city of Guilin and a third flight from Beijing was delayed and only allowed to take off after police spoke to the passengers.

According to Xinhua and Shenzhen Airlines, police are investigating the threats.

Officials said that no one and no plane was ever in real danger. This isn't the first time that Chinese airlines have been targeted by fake threats. Am man who tried to pull a bomb hoax last year is now serving a four year prison sentence.

Air travel is very popular in china as it is cheaper than taking a train and is sometimes cheaper than driving.