Indonesian fighter planes on Monday intercepted a Saudi civilian plane for entering the country’s airspace without permit, news reports said.

The plane had on board an official delegation heading for Australia, according to burnews.com.

“The Saudi plane, which took off from the Kingdom, was on its way to Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory of Australia. Fighter planes eventually forced the aircraft, which erroneously entered Indonesian airspace, to land at Tarri military airport in eastern Indonesia.”

An Australian news site, news.com.au, said the Saudia Arabian Airlines plane, a Gulfstream jet, made a refuelling stop in Singapore before taking off again and entering Indonesian airspace.

It was grounded in Kupang, West Timor, and allowed to leave later after the crew paid a fine of US$5,000.

The report said an Australian plane also “ran into trouble” and its owners had to pay a fine when it landed at El Tari airport in Kupang to get fuel last Sunday.

“Two weeks ago another Australian light plane was detained for several days in Manado, on the island of Sulawesi, after being threatened with a shootdown by fighter jets for violating Indonesian air space without the appropriate permits,” said the report.

The Indonesian jets forced the Saudi plane to land at a military airport after following the aircraft for a short period, the paper said.