A man was jailed Tuesday for a plane bomb hoax in central China's Henan Province designed to stop his girlfriend from visiting the Shanghai Expo.

Tian Yu, 21, was sentenced for one and a half years by the Gulou District People's Court in Henan's Kaifeng City.

Tian falsely said there was a bomb on a May 8 flight to Shanghai, a court spokesman said.

Tian called the Xinzheng International Airport in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, and relayed the false information after he failed to persuade his girlfriend to not visit the Shanghai Expo.

The airport initiated an emergency response immediately and delayed eight flights for hours for security checks. Second checks were performed on close to 1,200 passengers and their luggage, causing economic losses of more than 200,000 yuan (29,530 U.S. dollars), the spokesman said.

Police traced Tian and detained him on the same day, immediately after the information was confirmed false.