A SINGAPORE Airlines plane en route from Frankfurt to JFK airport in New York was diverted to Manchester Airport on Monday following a bomb threat, Greater Manchester Police said.

The plane landed safely at 11am without a military escort.

A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said: "It has been moved to somewhere safe where it will be searched."

A Manchester Airport spokeswoman added: "We can confirm that an aircraft landed here at 10.55am.

"It was a Singapore Airlines 747-400 which was flying from Frankfurt to JFK in New York.

"There were 292 passengers on board and 19 crew members. The passengers are disembarking at the moment.

"It was diverted into Manchester over a security precaution."

A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said: "Early indications are that it could be a hoax but we cannot confirm that one way or another until full checks are carried out."

A spokeswoman for Singapore Airlines confirmed the Boeing 747-400 had landed safely at around 11am and that no one had been injured in the incident.

She said: "Flight SQ26 departed from Frankfurt at 08.31 local time.

"It was diverted to Manchester Airport as a security precaution following information received by Singapore Airlines from the German authorities."

She was unable to confirm any further details about the nature of the threat and whether any code words were used.