A plane flying from Tel Aviv to Vienna made an emergency landing at Sofia airport tonight after a bomb threat, the press office of the Ministry of Transport and Communications said.

The aircraft is an A320 operating flight OS82. The crew received the warning in the air near the Romanian border and decided to land in Sofia.

Under standard procedure, an Air Force fighter jet took off and escorted the plane down.

The passengers have been taken off the plane.

The authorities have begun checks, and a task force has been set up to handle the case.

Early reports say there were 51 passengers and six crew on board.