[3][4] It was later determined that the perpetrators, who identified themselves as Organisation for Resisting Zionist Persecution[5] were commandeered by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)[4][6] and had boarded the flight at different airports, one at Hong Kong-Kai Tak, two at Bangkok-Don Muang, and two at Delhi-Palam.

[3] Once the hijackers learned that the Lufthansa crew considered such a manoeuvre to be too dangerous, they agreed on heading to Aden International Airport instead, in what was then South Yemen.

[4][5] A few hours after the hijacking had commenced, a note was received at the Lufthansa headquarters in Cologne: the aircraft would be blown up by 9:00 a.m. on the following day if a ransom of US$5 million had not been paid by then.

[4] Though it was planned to keep the exact amount of money secret in order to not attract copycats, the sum was disclosed to the public on 25 February by Georg Leber, then Federal Minister for Transport.

[3] West German news magazine Der Spiegel speculated that the remainder of the ransom had been used by the PFLP to fund the Japanese attackers responsible for the Lod Airport massacre, which took place on 30 May 1972.