Royal Jordanian diverts flight after suspicious object claim

Jordan's national carrier says it diverted a flight and searched the plane during an unscheduled stop after a passenger told the cabin crew that a suspicious object was on board.

Royal Jordanian says the Airbus 320 with 124 passengers was on its way from Dubai to the Jordanian capital of Amman on Thursday when the pilot received word of the passenger's claim. The pilot diverted the flight to the nearest airport in the Qatari capital of Doha.

The airline says nothing suspicious was found during a search of the plane. It says the passenger who made the claim would be questioned by the relevant authorities and that the plane is resuming its trip.

Royal Jordanian has come under the spotlight in recent months after launching rounds of advertising on social media, with an obvious dig at US President Donald Trump after a US court decision suspended his travel ban that targeted seven Muslim-majority nations.

"Fly to the US with RJ now that you're allowed to," the Royal Jordanian ad reads, along with a heading that wittily changed the word "Ban" to "Bon Voyage!"

An earlier post, this time sent out on the US Election Day in November, garnered thousands of retweets and likes for its tongue-in-cheek reference to then Republican nominee Donald Trump.

"Just in case he wins… Travel to the US while you're still allowed to!" Royal Jordanian's official account tweeted, referring to Trump's campaign comments suggesting a ban on Muslims entering the United States.

Royal Jordanian was just one of many airlines to announce it will allow previously-barred nationals from Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Somalia Sudan and Iran to fly to the US after Trump's controversial travel order was suspended.

Agencies contributed to this report.