A court today heard shocking evidence about comments made by a man shortly before he was about to board a plane - comments which raised a security alert.

A woman told the court how, while she was waiting at one of the airport's gates, a Bulgarian man pointed to an aircraft parked outside and said: "if that one is ours, it's not going to make it".

The Maltese woman was testifying in the case against Ivan Zlatev Manolov, 52, who stands charged with threatening people as well as with threatening two police officers.

None of the three witnesses who testified today, barring prosecuting officer Silvio Magro, may be named, by court order.

The woman explained how, as she was waiting with her husband to board a Ryanair flight to Athens on June 11 in the morning, the accused - addressing himself to them - pointed to an aircraft parked outside and asked them whether it was the aircraft they were scheduled to board.

"If that one is ours, it's not going to make it," the woman recalled the man as saying.

"He looked around and said: 'No one is going to survive'. He wasn't angry and he seemed neither very calm nor very agitated," she told the court, recalling how she did not answer him but merely forced a grin.

As the gate opened, he turned to the woman and told her: "I'm very, very sorry", before repeating that no one was going to make it to the evening.

Testifying before Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, the woman's husband recalled the accused asking him whether he thought they'd arrive at their destination.

If you're a Christian, start making the sign of the cross. Nobody will make it and nobody will survive

"If you're a Christian, start making the sign of the cross. Nobody will make it and nobody will survive," the man recalled the accused as saying.

"We were worried. Then the gate opened and as the priority passengers were passing through, he turned to me and asked: 'Do you think you're going to survive until this evening?' I told him: 'Yes, I am 100 per cent sure I will survive'."

At one point, the accused interrupted the sitting in protest and was strongly chided by the court.

Next to take the witness stand was an Aviaserve employee, who was manning the check-in desk on the day. She told the court that she was alerted to the accused's comments after the Maltese couple approached her.

Hearing the accused snort from the dock, the magistrate ordered his removal from the courtroom and ordered proceedings to be carried out in the presence of his defence counsel.

Continuing with her testimony, the employee said that she was compelled to intervene. The accused had, by that point, boarded the bus which was to take him to the waiting aircraft. She quickly boarded the bus and asked the man for his identity card. The employee noted that he seemed "a bit tipsy" but she could not say he was dunk. She also remarked that he was very polite.

She then reported to her supervisor, who ordered the accused to be taken off the flight. The employee approached the aircraft, and spotted her colleagues at the top of the flight of steps attempting to make him descend. It took him around a minute to obey orders, but he then disembarked without any further intervention.

However, he then told the employee that it was her fault that he was not going to fly to Athens. Airport staff later found that the accused had been carrying a bottle of Fanta which, however, was filled with whiskey.

Insp. Magro testified that, while he was taking the accused's statement, he did not smell any alcohol on his person. The accused seemed "very normal", he told the court.

"He told us: 'I will show who I am - I will survive and you will not', as he pointed at myself and at a police sergeant."

The accused refused to answer any more questions, except when the inspector asked him whether he remembered what he had said.

"He said: 'I don't want to remember but it was a joke'."

The case continues. Lawyer Yanika Bugeja appeared for the accused.