SriLankan has said that its Colombo to London flight on Friday was diverted and landed safely at Stansted (STN) Airport due to a bomb threat initiated by a passenger on board which is now appeared as a false claim.

“This incident occurred last night at 7.47 p.m. (London local time) just before the flight started its descent to land at London Heathrow Airport, when a passenger identified as a British National of European origin informed the crew that he had brought in a parcel containing a bomb and handed it over to someone to be taken on-board the flight. This passenger has now been identified as one of the two British nationals of European origin who had been handed over to the crew by the Sri Lankan Immigration authorities as deportees who had overstayed their visas in Sri Lanka,” the airline said in a statement.

There were 252 passengers, including six infants and 17 crew members, on the flight.

The statement added that the Captain had notified the air traffic control at London Heathrow Airport of the situation and upon their instructions, the flight was diverted to London Stansted (STN) Airport as a precautionary measure.

“On landing at Stansted, all passengers were safely disembarked from the flight and they were subject to a thorough screening process by the security authorities. Thereafter the passengers were transported to London Heathrow Airport by Coach to meet normal immigration formalities,” the statement added.

The aircraft will be flown to London Heathrow on completion of the security procedure at Stansted to operate the return flight UL504 from London to Colombo. “British Authorities are conducting further investigations into this incident and the passenger concerned who made the false bomb threat has been arrested,” the statement said.

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