More than a dozen flights across Europe were diverted and searched after bomb threats that authorities described as “malicious” hoaxes.
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Bomb threats targeted more than a dozen flights across Europe on Thursday, prompting emergency landings, searches and in some cases military escorts, according to authorities cited in reporting from Paris and Rome.
In Britain, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the flights were hit by “malicious hoax threats.” An official from the European Union’s transport portfolio, Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas, said in Dublin that it was “too early to draw conclusions on whether the reported incidents are linked” and that national investigations remained ongoing, while an EU information-sharing mechanism on aviation security had been activated.
French authorities placed an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome on high alert after a threat, the office of French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said. The flight was diverted to the military air base in Evreux, where it landed safely and military bomb disposal teams examined the plane. Lecornu’s office said warplanes were ordered to intercept the aircraft because the pilot “didn’t cooperate as expected with the authorities,” and it opened an investigation; regional prosecutor Remi Coutin said in a statement that the pilot and co-pilot were questioned. Aer Lingus later said its pilots fully cooperated with French authorities and that “the engagement of the pilots with the authorities has now concluded.”
Italy and Croatia also became involved after threats against a commercial flight. Italian air force fighter jets escorted a Finnair flight that departed Helsinki bound for Rome after a threat was received by email, the air force said. Croatia’s defence ministry said a fighter plane first intercepted the jet in Croatian airspace before handing it off to Italian aircraft. Finnair said two of its flights, including the one escorted to Rome, “faced unfounded hoax bomb scares,” while another flight operated by Jettime from Helsinki to Vienna landed safely and was expected to return to service after inspection.
Bulgaria received multiple diversions as well. Officials said three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia received military escorts and made emergency landings after bomb threats. Two of the flights—one from Copenhagen and another from Madrid—landed safely in Sofia. The third, from London, was diverted and landed safely in Plovdiv at Plovdiv Airport, where CEO Krassimir Peshev said the aircraft arrived without issues.
Several Thursday incidents followed earlier threats during the same week. Authorities said similar hoax warnings earlier had targeted flights including those operated by Polish airline LOT, Scandinavian Airlines, Wizz Air and Ryanair, after a plane headed for Bulgaria was diverted to Hungary while in the air. Reporting said no one was injured in those earlier disruptions.
Other confirmed responses to Thursday threats included Czech police searches of four planes that landed in Prague after receiving bomb threats; police said inspections found nothing. LOT said a Warsaw-to-Brussels flight landed at its destination and inspections found no hazardous or suspicious items. A Wizz Air flight from Milan to Bucharest landed safely in Bucharest after an alert, with checks turning up no bomb. In Austria, police said a flight to Warsaw landed in Vienna after Polish authorities received a threatening email; nothing was found and the plane continued to Warsaw, while an abstract threat to Vienna Airport concerning four other flights did not disrupt operations.
Authorities also described the threats as hoaxes that had not produced hazardous findings. A British official was quoted as saying no hazardous or suspicious materials were found. Reporting also said the earlier week’s threats led to searches and diversions with at least 25 flights targeted. The report did not state who sent the messages or whether the Thursday incidents were linked.
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