The suspected “underwear bomber” chose Detroit as the target for his foiled X-mas day airline bombing in 2009 because it was the cheapest flight, new details show.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab also considered blowing up planes above Houston and Chicago, but tickets were too expensive, The Associated Press reported.

The ongoing probe of the young Nigerian jihadist’s planning reinforced theories by American anti-terrorist organizations that Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch is more interested in killing Americans and wreaking havoc on the economy than striking symbolic targets.

Last October, the Yemeni branch took responsibility for an attempt to blow up U.S.-bound cargo planes using homemade package bombs.

After Abdulmutallab was arrested, suspicions swirled that terrorists specifically picked X-Mas Day for the mission and chose to attack Detroit because it was the heart of the American auto industry.

(Source: NY Daily News)