A plane passenger was questioned by police after calling in a bomb threat because he was running late for his flight, it has been reported.
The 46-year-old Italian man, who was hoping to fly to Rome for work, is alleged to have phoned a police station and falsely claimed there was a bomb set to go off at Turin Airport.
He told officers that he had heard two Arabic-speaking men discussing plans to stage an attack at the airport, according to reports in Italian newspaper La Stampa.
Airport staff triggered an alarm after the threat was made, but they later discovered they had been the victims of a hoax.
All passengers on board the plane were evacuated and their bags were searched following the alarm on Thursday, according to reports.
The plane, owned by Italian airline Alitalia, then took off after a two-and-a-half hour delay.
The man could now face a prison sentence, a large fine and being blacklisted for future flights.
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