A Virgin Atlantic jet from Dubai to London's Heathrow Airport was evacuated so "additional security checks" could be performed.
"Our customers travelling on the VS401 from Dubai to London Heathrow have temporarily disembarked the aircraft for additional security checks," Virgin Atlantic said in a statement. "This is purely as a precautionary measure as the safety of our customers and crew is our number one priority and we're planning to have everyone on their way as quickly as possible."
An Associated Press correspondent earlier tweeted that the plane had been evacuated because of a security threat, but Virgin Atlantic tweeted that the evacuation was not conducted because of a "credible security threat" but as a "precautionary measure."
To clarify; our customers were removed as a precautionary measure for additional security checks, not due to a credible threat.^R
— virginatlantic (@VirginAtlantic) May 23, 2017
A Virgin Atlantic spokeswoman told Newsweek that passengers were now boarding the plane again following the additional checks.
Dubai Airports confirmed to Reuters that the aircraft was delayed "whilst additional security checks were carried out."
"These were carried out in close cooperation with Dubai police and the airline, following which the aircraft was cleared for departure."
The evacuation comes with Britain's terrorist threat standing at "severe," following a bomb attack at a pop concert in Manchester Monday night that killed 22 people, including children. The threat level means an attack is considered "highly likely."
In recent months, the U.K. and U.S. have increased security on some flights from Middle Eastern countries, banning passengers from taking laptops and tablets on board. A Virgin Atlantic spokeswoman said the incident did not relate to the laptop ban.
The UAE is not one of the six countries listed in the ban by the U.K.'s Department for Transport, which includes Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.
However Dubai International Airport is one of the ten Middle Eastern and African airports subjected to additional security measures by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. American officials are reportedly discussing extending the ban to flights to the U.S. from some European airports.
The measures were introduced following intelligence that terrorists planned to smuggle a bomb onboard a plane concealed in an electronics device.
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