The airport had received an anonymous phone call last Friday saying that a bomb was onboard flight CA406, according to the local police.
Police evacuated the passengers to inspect the plane and later discovered the threat was a hoax and there was no explosive device.
The flight was delayed for nearly five hours.
The Shanghai police had launched a probe into the case and eventually detained the suspect, surnamed Pu, last night.
Pu confessed he gave false information so as to extort some money, the police said. PTI KJV