A Wizz Air flight travelling from London Luton Airport to Sofia has been escorted by a Hungarian fighter jet to Budapest after a mid-air bomb menace.
The plane was compelled to make an emergency touchdown at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International.
Authorities there “carried out the necessary security checks on the aircraft and passengers”, a spokesperson for Wizz Air said.
The airline later confirmed an inspection had been “completed and nothing was found”, including that the aircraft would depart again shortly. Hungarian Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendis confirmed his nation offered the fighter jet to escort the flight.
According to flight monitoring web site FlightAware, Wizz Air flight 4302 departed Luton at 08:33 GMT and was due to arrive in the Bulgarian capital at 13:25 native time (11:25 GMT).
But the web site said it landed in Budapest at 12:09 native time (11:09 GMT).
In a post on social media, Ruszin-Szendis said that after receiving the bomb menace, the Wizz Air flight had requested permission to land at the airport in Budapest.
“Within minutes, a Hungarian Defence Forces Gripen fighter jet took to the skies and provided an escort for the passenger aircraft”, he said.
After this, the jet returned to its base and police took charge of the incident, he added.
The airline said that after the aircraft made the emergency touchdown, it taxied “to a designated stand” where the security checks were carried out.
Wizz Air added that it was “cooperating fully with the authorities”, and that the security of passengers and crew “remains our highest priority”.
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