Bomb Threats Force At Least 12 Flights To Divert Or Land Under Guard Across Europe
An Aer Lingus plane landed at a French military base escorted by a fighter jet, while Ryanair, LOT, Wizz Air and Finnair flights were also targeted. No explosives have been found.
PARIS, Nov 5 – Bomb threats forced airliners to make unplanned landings or land under heavy security across Europe on Thursday morning, the latest in a string of threats against flights in the region.
At least 12 flights were affected, according to airlines, officials and local media. No explosive devices have been found so far.
The threats came just two days after at least seven flights and a cruise ship received bomb threats on Tuesday, disrupting airports across Europe. No devices were found then either.
An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to Evreux, about 100 kilometers west of Paris, as a security step, the Irish airline said. The plane, an Airbus A320, landed safely at a major military base there.
The French prime minister’s office said a bomb disposal unit was waiting to inspect the plane. All 151 passengers and six crew members were moved to a safe place, it said.
The French newspaper Le Figaro reported that a French Rafale fighter jet escorted the plane as it came in to land. The broadcaster BFMTV said the original alert came from Italian authorities.
The prime minister’s office said the government was monitoring the situation closely.
In Bulgaria, officials reported three planes making emergency landings because of bomb threats. Two flights, from Copenhagen and Madrid, landed in the capital, Sofia, the interior minister said, according to the broadcaster bTV. A third, from London Stansted, was diverted to Plovdiv.
All three were Ryanair flights, the public broadcaster BNT said.
In Belgium, a LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw landed at Brussels Airport after a threat. An airport spokesperson told the newspaper Le Soir that it had received a suspicious report about a flight heading to Brussels.
LOT said the crew searched the aircraft during the flight following standard procedures and found nothing suspicious. Authorities in Brussels searched it again after it landed and also found no dangerous or suspicious items, the airline said.
Finnair was involved in two separate incidents. One of its aircraft, traveling from Helsinki to Rome, was escorted by the Italian air force before landing as scheduled in Rome, a source familiar with the matter said. A second Finnair aircraft, flying from Helsinki to Vienna, also received a threat and landed safely in the Austrian capital, an airline spokesperson told Reuters.
The Italian news agency ANSA reported that a Wizz Air flight from Milan Malpensa to Warsaw was diverted to Vienna.
In the Czech Republic, police said they had received reports of an improvised explosive device on four planes heading to Prague. They did not identify the flights.
Czech police said they considered the threats to have little credibility but were not taking them lightly, adding that all necessary security measures were in place. Bomb experts would inspect each plane after landing, police said.
No country has blamed anyone for the threats. But they come at a time when European officials have been accusing both Russia and Iran of what they describe as hybrid attacks and sabotage on the continent. Moscow and Tehran both deny any such campaign.
Hybrid attacks are hostile acts that fall short of open warfare, such as cyberattacks, sabotage and false alarms. They are often cheap to carry out and hard to trace back to a government.
This week, unidentified hackers also shut down fridges in supermarkets in several European countries. Some experts said the hoax bomb threats could be part of the same pattern of low-cost disruption that is easy to deny.
Bomb threats against planes have become more common in Europe in recent weeks. In October, an Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna was diverted to Sofia after a bomb threat. Authorities later gave the all clear.
Even when no device is found, each threat forces crews to change course, disrupts travel for thousands of passengers and ties up police, air forces and airport staff.
Investigations into Thursday’s threats are under way in several countries.
