Cape Town - A Johannesburg man who joked on board a Kulula.com flight about hijacking the plane, is to go on trial in Bellville Regional Court in October.

The case was transferred on Wednesday from Bellville Magistrate's Court to the regional court, when Mncedisi Eric Maluleka, 32, made his fourth appearance since his arrest in October last year.

The regional court may impose sentences of up to 15 years, while the magistrate's court has a limit of three years.

At Wednesday's proceedings, Magistrate Helma Smit said Maluleka's trial would start in the regional court on October 8, and had been set down for two days.

Defence counsel Hugo Rossouw said he would liaise with prosecutors to ensure that the case did start as scheduled to save Maluleka the wasted cost of an air ticket.

He said flight personnel also would have to be notified in time, to ensure their attendance at the hearing.

It is alleged that, as a passenger on the Kulula flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg, on October 6, Maluleka asked flight staff: "What will you do if me and my friend hijack this plane?"

'Jeopardising the flight'

The jest-remark caused the flight to return to Cape Town International Airport, where Maluleka was arrested together with his unnamed friend.

The friend was subsequently released, when it was realised that he had nothing to do with the joke.

Maluleka is now charged under the Aviation Act with jeopardising the operation, safety, good order and discipline on the flight.

The fact that the case has been set down for a two-day trial, indicates that the Western Cape Directorate for Public prosecutions has turned down representations made to it by Maluleka's attorney, Phillip Bredenhann, for the withdrawal of the charge.