DUBLIN, Sept 28 (AFP) - A New York-bound Olympic Airways plane was due to land at Shannon airport in western Ireland Tuesday after it was diverted there following a bomb alert, an Irish airport authority source said.
The airline said 295 passengers were aboard the plane which was being diverted after an Athens newspaper received warning of a bomb on board.
The aircraft, which has a crew of 12, took off from Athens at 1:13 pm (10h13 GMT), a company spokesman said.
Soon after 1300 GMT while the aircraft was flying over the Atlantic, an unidentified caller telephoned the Athens newspaper Eleftherotypia saying a bomb was on board and would go off an hour later.
The airline spokesman said US authorities had refused permission for the plane to land at John F. Kennedy airport in New York City.
Airline sources told the Greek news agency ANA that they believed the bomb threat was a hoax, adding that passenger checks in Athens were rigorous.
On Sunday British military jets were scrambled to escort another Olympic Airways plane, en route from Athens to New York, into Stansted airport near London after a telephone caller told a Greek newspaper there was a bomb on board.
The airliner was given the all-clear to resume its flight to the United States on Monday.