Etihad assisting police in terror bomb threat

Following the alleged foiled terror plot, which planned to plant a bomb on a plane out of Australia, more details have come to light on Etihad’s assistance of police.

Etihad Airways is now assisting police with their investigations, as leading terror experts suggest the suspects may have been building a gas bomb similar to the one used in Manchester.

In a statement obtained by Travel Weekly, an Etihad spokesperson confirmed the airline was assisting police with their enquiries.

“The Etihad Airways aviation security (AVSEC) team is assisting the Australian Federal Police (AFP) with its investigation and the matter is ongoing,” they said.

“Etihad is complying fully with the enhanced security measures at airports in Australia and monitoring the situation closely.

“Safety is the airline’s number one priority.”

Reports from the ABC suggest the alleged conspiracy to smuggle the bomb onto a flight, hidden inside a meat grinder, was discovered after Australian officials received a tip-off from a foreign intelligence agency.

Four men were arrested from five homes in Sydney suburbs of Surry Hills, Lakemba, Wiley Park and Punchbowl over the weekend, with one released without charge today, per reports.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Andrew Colvin, said the threat was credible, adding, “We believe it’s Islamic-inspired terrorism. Exactly what is behind this is something we need to investigate fully”, per The Guardian.

Australian airports were hit with mammoth delays, as airlines of Qantas and Virgin Australia urged customers to get to the airport an hour earlier than what’s typically recommended for both international and domestic flights.

Following the raids, PM Turnbull said, “More bags will be checked, it’s really intensifying what we’re already doing.

“Some of that will be visible, some of it will not be visible.”

The only problem, evidenced by the Twitter feed of airport queues, is that airport teams were not equipped to deal with the amount of passengers actually arriving early, as advised, with queues backing out onto the footpaths of departure terminals.

The queue now stretches outside the terminal and down the entire length of T2 st Sydney airport. pic.twitter.com/odKbrQ6Z54
— Mary Lloyd (@MaryLloyd4) July 30, 2017

Lead image: Twitter Mary Lloyd

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

afp etihad airways terror threat