Photo/Illutration A Starlux Airlines aircraft at Narita Airport on Dec. 16, 2020 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

A bomb threat targeting a commercial flight last week was not the only one received by Narita Airport, investigative sources said.

The airport also received a bomb threat concerning a flight operated by a Taiwanese airline prior to a similar call that forced a Japanese budget carrier flight to make an emergency landing in central Japan, the sources said.

The airport received a telephone call on Jan. 2 threatening to blow up Taipei-bound Starlux Airlines flight No. 801, the sources said Jan. 11. The caller demanded money.

The plane had not yet departed, and the passengers and crew disembarked safely.

Chiba prefectural police searched for suspicious items on board the aircraft but found nothing.

The flight took off 110 minutes later than scheduled.

On Jan. 7, an inquiry desk at Narita Airport received a similar call targeting a Jeststar Japan flight around 6:20 a.m.

The caller said: “A bomb has been planted on (Jetstar Japan’s) flight GK 501 bound for Fukuoka. It will detonate and passengers will die.”

The flight made an emergency landing at Chubu Airport in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, around 7:40 a.m.

Some passengers received minor injuries while using the emergency slide to leave the aircraft. No suspicious objects were found.

Both calls were made from Germany and the callers spoke in English, the sources said.

Chiba prefectural police are investigating the link between the two cases for forcible obstruction of business.

(This article was written by Sakiko Kondo and Yoshiko Aoyama.)

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