Australian man to face charges after alleged bomb threat made on Scoot flight from Singapore

An Australian passenger has been arrested after an alleged bomb threat was made on a flight bound for Perth from Singapore.

An Australian man is due to face charges in Singapore after allegedly making a bomb threat on a Perth-bound flight.

The Scoot flight was forced to turn back to Singapore on Thursday as a “precautionary measure” after one of the passengers allegedly made a bomb threat.

A 30-year-old Australian man is in police custody and is expected to be charged with making false threats of terrorist acts on Saturday, according to The Strait Times.

Singapore Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen confirmed that two air force F-15SG jets were activated to escort the flight back to Changi airport due to a “suspected bomb threat on-board”.

A Scoot flight was turned around after a passenger allegedly made a bomb threat. Picture: Supplied

“The flight had departed Singapore and was en route to Perth. Our fighters escorted the airliner till it landed safely at Changi airport,” he said in a statement on Facebook at 11.30pm (SST) on Thursday.

“We thank our RSAF team who are on standby 24/7 to keep Singapore safe.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed it is aware of the incident.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware of reports that an Australian has been detained in Singapore,” a spokesperson said.

“We stand ready to offer consular assistance.”

Flight TR16 was spotted making a U-turn over Bangka Island in Indonesia just half an hour into the flight before beginning its return to Singapore’s Changi airport, according to data from Flightradar24.

The plane flew in loops over the South China Sea east of Malaysia for close to an hour before beelining for Singapore where it landed at 6.27pm on Thursday.

Other flights due to land at Changi airport were also put into holding patterns over the Riau Islands while police dealt with flight TR16.

The plane appeared to be held on the tarmac of runway 3 for a number of minutes and it is not known if it returned to the terminal.

Two air force fighter jets were used to escort the flight to Singapore. Picture: iStock

A Scoot spokesperson confirmed that the decision to return to Changi airport was a “precautionary” measure due to the bomb threat.

They explained that security checks were carried out at a remote bay in the airport before a new set of crew boarded the plane to operate the flight back to Perth.

“Scoot sincerely apologises for the disruption and inconvenience caused,” the spokesperson said.

“The safety of our customers and crew is our top priority, and we will continue to provide assistance to our customers.”

The Scoot flight stayed in Singapore for more than five hours before returning to the sky at 11.22pm (SST)

It was due to land in Perth at 4.22am (ACWST) on Friday.