Bomb hoax forces CY plane to land in Athens

PASSENGERS aboard Cyprus Airways flight 326 from Larnaca to London suffered an unexpected delay in their voyage last night when an unidentified person made a hoax bomb threat call to Larnaca control tower.

The call was made at around 7pm, and according to control tower staff, the caller had a Cypriot accent. The control tower contacted the pilots, who landed at the closest airport, Athens.

The passengers were evacuated and Greek airport security began a thorough search of the aircraft.

With the search complete, the aircraft was cleared to continue on to Heathrow airport.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.