European Airlines: Bomb Threats Trigger Dozens of Diverted Flights
More than a dozen aircraft from across the continent made emergency landings or received military escorts on Thursday following a wave of suspicious messages.
By Anthony Foster ·
Airlines across Europe faced a flurry of operational disruptions on Thursday as more than a dozen flights responded to reported bomb threats. The incidents resulted in multiple emergency landings and at least one aircraft receiving an escort by fighter jets. Authorities confirmed that inspections have so far found no hazardous materials or suspicious items on the targeted planes.
The threats affected routes originating from Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Madrid, Milan, and Warsaw. Most of the affected aircraft diverted to alternative airports, while others landed safely at their intended destinations. Czech police reported that four planes landing in Prague cleared searches without incident. Officials did not specify the origin points for those particular flights.
In a notable incident, a flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to a military air base in Evreux, Normandy. The French prime minister’s office stated that the plane landed safely with 151 passengers and six crew members on board. Military bomb disposal teams began examining the aircraft immediately after landing. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s office said it was monitoring the situation in real time but released no further details.
Other carriers reported similar protocols. A LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw to Brussels landed without issues after inspections. A Wizz Air flight from Milan to Bucharest also arrived safely, according to airport spokesman Teo Postelnicu. A Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome landed at Leonardo da Vinci airport around 9:30 a.m. under the escort of Italian air force fighter jets. An anonymous airport official said security clearance was completed after police bomb disposal experts found no explosives.
Police in Lower Austria province reported an abstract threat in a mail sent to Polish authorities regarding a flight to Warsaw. Stefan Loidl, a police spokesperson, said the plane landed in Vienna, underwent checks, and then continued to its destination. Loidl noted that four other flights were also subject to abstract threats at Vienna Airport, though operations were not disrupted. In Warsaw, airport spokesman Piotr Rudzki said one runway at Chopin Airport was temporarily closed for standard security procedures after a threat was reported at a LOT flight bound for Paris.
Three Ryanair flights heading to Sofia, Bulgaria, made emergency landings. Two planes, arriving from Copenhagen and Madrid, landed at Sofia’s Vasil Levski Airport. A third flight from London’s Stansted Airport diverted to Plovdiv, the country's second-largest city. Plovdiv Airport CEO Krassimir Peshev confirmed the plane landed safely. These events follow a series of hoax threats earlier in the week that involved airlines including Scandinavian Airlines and Wizz Air, as well as a flight diverted to Hungary.
Authorities have linked the recent spike in incidents to a period of increased geopolitical tension and various hybrid disruptions in the region. These disruptions include attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems, drone incursions, and unexplained triggers for mobile alert apps. Officials warn that such hybrid threats are common, though no injuries have been reported in the latest series of diversions.
