There's been a bomb threat, the Austrian Airlines Route Tel Aviv-Vienna landing emergency

An Australian Airlines route Tel Aviv to Vienna made an emergency landing in Bulgaria after receiving reports of bomb threats on Sunday (18 / 10).

In a statement on Sunday, the Bulgarian Transport Ministry said the Airbus A320 with the OS82 flight number was located near the Romanian border when the flight crew received a bomb threat and decided to land in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital.

According to the FlightAware flight site, the Auction Airlines took off from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday at 18.46 local time (15.46 GMT).

The plane landed about three hours later at Vasil Levski Airport, Sofia, at 21.43 hours.

Flightradar24 data shows that the aircraft entered Romanian airspace around 21.10 (18.10 GMT), before turning south and returning to Bulgaria.

Meanwhile, information from the ADS- B flight tracking platform is showing that the plane emits a squawk 7700- signal that indicates a general emergency approximately the same time.

The Bulgarian Ministry of Defense claims that a MiG-29 fighter jet owned by the air force was able to escort the aircraft to Sofia Airport.

Based on the initial information in the Transport Ministry statement, the plane was carrying six crews and 51 passengers. All passengers and crew are off the plane.

The airline told AFP that a security check was made against the plane.

"Once the plane checks out, the passengers will be transferred to alternative flights as soon as possible," said the airline.

The Bulgarian Transport Ministry added that a crisis response team has been formed and related authorities have begun the investigation of the incident.