Bomb Threat Forces Germany-Bound Eurowings Flight to Divert to Kuwait

A Eurowings flight traveling from Oman to Germany was forced to make an unexpected landing in Kuwait Sunday following a bomb threat, authorities told the Associated Press.

Kuwait civil aviation authority spokesman Mansour al-Hashemi said the flight was en route to Cologne from Salalah when the captain learned of the threat and rerouted to Kuwait City. 

Al-Hashemi told the AP that security officials found no evidence of explosives during a search of the Airbus A330, which was carrying 287 passengers and 10 crew members.

The flight was operated by SunExpress and was a charter for tour company FTI.

In an emailed statement to the AP, Eurowings would only say the flight was diverted for "security reasons and in consultation with the relevant authorities."

@_ScottFree_ the flight was diverted to Kuwait as a matter of precaution and in coordination with the relevant authorities and the pilot. CG

— Eurowings (@eurowings) January 15, 2017

Because of restrictions on the amount of time flight crews can work, Eurowings said the flight was scheduled to resume at 1 a.m. local time Monday and that passengers were put up in hotels in the meantime.

Sunday's incident comes just three months after the Lufthansa subsidiary began offering direct flights between Cologne and Salalah.

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