TOKYO - A Jetstar flight made an emergency landing at Chubu Centrair International Airport in central Japan on Saturday due to a bomb threat.

No suspicious device was found, officials said.

The runway at the airport was closed after the flight from Narita Airport near Tokyo, bound for Fukuoka in southern Japan, landed at 7.41am. It resumed operations at 12.15pm after safety was confirmed, a Chubu Airport spokesman said.

There were 136 passengers and six crew members on board. Five suffered minor injuries while evacuating from the plane, a Chubu airport police official said.

No explosives or other suspicious objects were found in a search of the cabin and luggage, the official said.

Jetstar Airways said in a statement that the flight was diverted to the Chubu airport, in Japan’s industrial heartland of Aichi prefecture, after a potential security incident, and passengers disembarked via emergency slides.

“Jetstar Japan is working closely with the Chubu airport and local authorities to investigate the situation,” the company said, declining to comment further.

Public broadcaster NHK said Narita Airport received an international call from Germany at 6.20am that morning, with a man’s voice saying in English that a 100kg plastic bomb was in the cargo compartment of the Jetstar aircraft.

However, the plane had already taken off by then.

A Narita spokesman said there had been a bomb threat call for the flight but that details were unclear.

NHK aired footage of dozens of passengers standing on the Chubu airport runway after exiting the plane via emergency chutes, according to Japan Times.

Due to the closure of the runway, some flights to and from the Chubu airport were cancelled or delayed, while the departure lobby for domestic flights was crowded with passengers seeking boarding pass refunds and transferring to other flights, NHK said.

Responding to queries by The Straits Times, Jetstar said: “Out of an abundance of caution, passengers disembarked via emergency slides.

“We know this would have been distressing for passengers and thank them for their cooperation.

“Our teams are supporting them and working to get them on their way as quickly as possible. Jetstar Japan is also working closely with Chubu Airport and local authorities to investigate the situation.” REUTERS