BELGRADE (Reuters) - A 65-year old Serbian man confessed in court on Saturday to calling in a false bomb threat to stop a Lufthansa flight attendant from leaving the country because he hoped she would go on a date with him.

One hundred thirty passengers and five crew members were evacuated from flight LH 1411 on Thursday before its take-off en route from Belgrade to Frankfurt. The plane was removed from the runway so a special police squad could search it.

A spokesman for the prosecutor told Serbian media the prosecution had asked the court to keep the man in custody pending charges of causing panic and disorder.

The man told the court he had met two flight attendants and invited them for dinner but they refused. He especially liked one of them, and after he failed to locate her at her hotel, he made one last desperate attempt to keep her from leaving by phoning in a bomb threat.

The police traced the call and the man was arrested a day later.