An Etihad Airways flight from Cairo to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, was diverted to a military air base in Dubai today for “security reasons,” the airline said.
The Abu Dhabi-based airline said passengers on flight No 650 disembarked after being diverted to Dubai’s al-Minhad air base. Etihad is the UAE’s national carrier.
It said 128 passengers and seven crew members were on board. Passengers will undergo an additional security screening, as will their luggage, before they are transferred by bus to Abu Dhabi.
The airline gave no details on the nature of the threat, and said it will release further information as soon as it is available.
Twitter accounts associated with sympathisers of the Islamic State group tweeted out messages overnight threating airplanes, with one mentioning the Etihad flight specifically.
On Monday, a jetliner operated by another UAE-based airline, Air Arabia, was diverted to al—Minhad after a passenger said the plane would explode. That flight was from Kuwait to Sharjah, a city outside Dubai, where the airline is based.
The state news agency WAM said authorities in that case “took the appropriate standard procedures to deal with the situation,” without elaborating.
The Emirates is a seven-state federation that is an important Western ally and a member of the US—led coalition taking part in airstrikes against the Islamic State group, which has seized about a third of Iraq and Syria.
Aviation is a key industry for the oil-rich country. The nation is home to Dubai-based airline Emirates, the Mideast’s biggest carrier, and Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic.
Abu Dhabi International Airport, the intended destination for today’s diverted flight, is undergoing a major expansion to accommodate Etihad’s rapid growth.
