Terror threat forcing Air China flight back to Paris ‘was false alarm’
State news agency Xinhua quoting the carrier’s Paris office says the terror alert was ‘considered false’
An Air China flight from Paris to Beijing turned back on Thursday over a terrorism threat, but Chinese state media later quoted the flag carrier saying it was believed to be a false alarm.
Air China said flight CA876 had returned to Paris after the airline “received suspected terrorist information,” giving no further information on the nature of the threat.
“To ensure safety, CA876 flew back to Paris and landed safely,” the airline said on one of its social media accounts.
But state news agency Xinhua soon after issued a brief dispatch quoting the carrier’s Paris office saying the terror alert was “considered false.”
The carrier had said earlier that it would arrange to resume the flight as soon as possible “after safety is ensured.”
The flight had been scheduled to depart Charles de Gaulle Airport at 12.30pm Paris time (1030 GMT).
The carrier did not say how far the aircraft flew before turning back to Paris.
A video purportedly taken from inside the plane after landing and posted online shows police and sniffer dogs at the scene, and passengers disembarking via a stairway.