Passengers warned to comply with checks after hijack scare

A day after an attempted plane hijacking came to light, the acting head of the mainland's civil aviation authority called yesterday for passengers to co-operate with security measures at airports.

Li Jiaxiang , acting head of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), said the administration had put in place effective and comprehensive safety measures.

Without directly responding to questions about an apparent security loophole that saw a Uygur woman succeed in taking cans of petrol through an airport security check and onto an aeroplane, Mr Li said experts had been invited to carry out further investigations.

'I appeal to the public at large to show understanding and to co-operate with the security measures the CAAC has put in place,' he said.

On Sunday, Xinjiang region chairman Nuer Baikeli said authorities had thwarted an attempt to down a China Southern flight from Urumqi to Beijing on Friday.

The plane had to make an emergency landing in Lanzhou , the capital of Gansu province .

According to sources, one of the four Uygur suspects had taken cans of petrol onto the plane.