Virgin Atlantic flight from Dubai to London evacuated over ‘non-credible security threat’

The airline said in a statement on Tuesday that passengers onboard Flight No VS401 at Dubai International Airport 'have temporarily disembarked the aircraft for additional security checks'.

DUBAI // Passengers travelling on the Virgin Atlantic flight from Dubai to London on Tuesday were removed from the aircraft while Dubai Police carried out checks.

Virgin Atlantic described the threat as “non-credible”.

A spokesman for Dubai Airports said the flight would depart after the checks were completed.

“Dubai Airports confirms that the departure of a Virgin Atlantic aircraft was delayed while additional security checks were carried out in close cooperation with Dubai Police and the airline,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Virgin Atlantic said: “Our customers travelling on the VS401 from Dubai to London Heathrow have temporarily disembarked the aircraft for additional security checks.

“This is purely as a precautionary measure as the safety of our customers and crew is our number one priority. The threat has been classified as non-credible and is an isolated incident not impacting the rest of the Virgin Atlantic fleet.”

Flight VS401 left Dubai international at 2.17pm.

The security incident came after the explosion outside a concert venue in Manchester on Monday night killed 22 people and injured about 60.