A Pakistan International Airlines aircraft that was bound to Britain from Pakistan was grounded after anonymous emails were received by authorities claiming bombs were onboard.

The PIA flight from Islamibad was carrying 346 passengers when it was forced to land at Istanbul’s Atatuk Airport. The incident occurred near to the Bulgarian capital Sofia.

All passengers were removed from the plane while security forces searched the aircraft, but no explosives were found. The plane then resumed its flight to Manchester, according to reports.

Later a second PIA flight carrying 164 passengers to Kuala Lumpur made an emergency landing after another bomb alert was received.

A senior PIA spokesperson commented: “We received emails about the presence of bombs on two PIA flights. Since the flights had taken off already, the pilots were directed to land at the nearest airport. One flight bound for Manchester landed in Istanbul and the second flight touched down at Kuala Lumpur.

PIA operates a range of advanced aircraft, ranging from the world’s preferred Boeing 777 airplane to the super-quiet Airbus A-310.

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