At least 14 flights across Europe were targeted by bomb threats on Thursday, prompting several countries to scramble fighter jets to escort aircraft and forcing the diversion of multiple flights, authorities and airlines have said.
Gatekeepers News reports that the incidents marked the third consecutive day of widespread bomb alerts across Europe, with low-cost carriers and flights operating to or from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Italy particularly affected.
Italian, French and Bulgarian air forces deployed fighter jets in response to the threats. Three flights were diverted, but all affected aircraft landed safely, with subsequent inspections finding no explosives.
More than 20 bomb hoaxes have now been reported across Europe this week, with low-cost airline Ryanair targeted at least seven times.
Ryanair flights targeted
Three Ryanair flights heading to Sofia from Madrid, Copenhagen and London Stansted received bomb threats, a spokesperson for Bulgaria’s Ministry of Transport told AFP.
While two aircraft landed in Sofia, the flight from London Stansted was diverted to Plovdiv Airport, east of the Bulgarian capital.
Bulgaria’s defence ministry said fighter jets escorted all three aircraft, describing the missions as operations to “detect, identify and escort the aircraft”.
An interior ministry spokesperson later confirmed that all three planes were inspected and no explosives were discovered.
Finnair reports two threats
A Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome was escorted by an Italian fighter jet before landing at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, where bomb disposal experts inspected the aircraft.
A spokesperson for the airline, Stiina Tuunanen, confirmed that “nothing unusual was found” following the inspection.
Tuunanen said Finnair had established procedures for handling such incidents and maintained close cooperation with local authorities.
She also disclosed that another false bomb threat had targeted flight AY1471 from Helsinki to Vienna, although she did not provide further details.
Wizz Air, Aer Lingus flights affected
Wizz Air said a flight from Milan to Warsaw was diverted to Vienna following a bomb threat, in line with its established safety protocols and procedures.
Another Wizz Air flight travelling from Milan to Bucharest landed safely at its destination. Romania’s intelligence service said a crisis unit was subsequently established at Henri Coanda Airport.
An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was also diverted to France following a bomb threat and escorted by military aircraft to the Evreux air base, west of Paris.
“The flight landed safely, and Aer Lingus will work to reaccommodate customers to their final destination as soon as possible,” the airline said.
Threats target Prague, Copenhagen flights
Four aircraft heading to Prague, operated by Ryanair, EasyJet and Sky Express, also received bomb threats.
Czech police said they considered the threats to have low credibility but had activated the necessary security measures.
“We perceive the credibility of the threats as low,” police said in a post on X.
“Nevertheless, we are not underestimating the situation, and all necessary security measures have been activated.”
Prague Airport spokesperson Denisa Hejtmankova said the threats were received through emails sent from anonymous addresses. Authorities had yet to establish which airlines were involved in all the affected flights.
Meanwhile, two aircraft arriving in Copenhagen were also targeted.
Danish police told AFP that their assessment indicated no danger to passengers or other people at the airport.
“Our assessment is that there is no danger, and there has never been any danger, to passengers or anyone else at the airport,” the police said.
Origin of threats remains unknown
The identities of those behind the threats and their motives remain unknown.
However, the incidents come amid growing concerns over hybrid attacks across Europe, some of which authorities have linked to Russia or Iran.
France’s Secretary-General for Defence and National Security, Nicolas Roche, highlighted the growing threat before parliament last month.
He pointed to “the massing of hybrid attacks in all their diversity — sabotage, cyber, drones, espionage of course — that we are seeing take shape in Europe”.
Earlier bomb alerts
The latest incidents followed a series of similar threats earlier in the week.
On Tuesday, 10 flights were targeted by bomb alerts, all of which were subsequently established to be hoaxes. The incidents forced the temporary closure of an airport in Warsaw and prompted the deployment of Italian fighter jets to escort aircraft.
On Monday, a Wizz Air flight travelling from London’s Luton Airport to Sofia was diverted to Budapest following a bomb threat, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing.
