Sydney - An Australian man was arrested after making a hoax aircraft bomb threat in a text message sent from his own cellphone, police said on Saturday.

Police said the 35-year-old man from Cairns, in northern Queensland state, sent the message to another cellphone late on Friday, saying there was a bomb on board an Air New Zealand flight departing Cairns for Auckland.

Police simply tracked the man through his cellphone number and arrested him shortly after the message was sent.

He was charged with using a carriage service for a hoax threat and making threats and false statements.

He will appear in the Cairns magistrate's court on April 4. - Sapa-AFP