More than a dozen European flights diverted on bomb threats
Emergency landings occurred in France, Bulgaria, and Austria on Thursday, following a wave of similar hoaxes earlier in the week.
By Nadia Singh ·
The question driving Thursday's chaos across Europe is whether the recent string of bomb threats represents a coordinated campaign or a spate of isolated pranks. Authorities in multiple countries confirmed that more than a dozen flights were targeted, forcing diversions to airports in France, Bulgaria, Austria, and Italy. In at least three cases, planes made emergency landings, while others reached their intended destinations after security checks.
The pattern began earlier this week when a flight bound for Bulgaria was diverted to Hungary after receiving a threat in the air. That incident was part of a broader wave of hoax calls that touched carriers including LOT Polish Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, and Ryanair. No injuries were reported during that initial surge, but the incidents have kept airport security on high alert as the week progressed.
On Thursday, the disruption spread geographically. A Dublin to Rome flight was rerouted to a military air base in Evreux, Normandy. The French prime minister’s office stated that all 151 passengers and six crew members were safe. Military bomb disposal teams began examining the aircraft immediately upon landing. The office noted it was monitoring the situation in real time.
In Bulgaria, three Ryanair flights headed for Sofia faced similar issues. Two aircraft, originating from Copenhagen and Madrid, landed safely at Vasil Levski Airport. The third flight, arriving from London’s Stansted, was diverted to Plovdiv, the country’s second-largest city. Krassimir Peshev, the CEO of Plovdiv Airport, confirmed the plane landed without incident.
In Austria, Stefan Loidl, a police spokesperson for Lower Austria, said a flight to Warsaw landed in Vienna after an abstract threat was sent to Polish authorities. A second threat regarding four other flights at Vienna Airport was deemed abstract, and Loidl said operations were not disrupted. Meanwhile, in Poland, Piotr Rudzki, a spokesman for Warsaw’s Chopin Airport, said one runway was temporarily closed on Thursday morning to check a LOT flight to Paris. No threat was ultimately identified.
Other airlines also confirmed incidents. A Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome landed at Leonardo da Vinci airport around 9:30 a.m., escorted by Italian air force fighter jets. An anonymous airport official said police bomb disposal experts found no explosives after completing clearance procedures. A Wizz Air flight from Milan to Bucharest landed safely, according to Teo Postelnicu, a spokesman for the airport.
Czech police reported that four planes landing in Prague were searched and cleared of hazardous materials. Authorities did not specify where those flights originated. A LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw to Brussels also landed at its destination, where inspections found no suspicious items. As of Thursday, no hazardous or suspicious materials had been found in any of the targeted aircraft.
