A series of bomb threats disrupted commercial aviation across Europe on Thursday, forcing aircraft to divert, undergo security inspections or receive military escorts.
The alerts affected flights operated by Aer Lingus, Ryanair, LOT Polish Airlines, Wizz Air, Finnair and Aegean Airlines, among others. A total of 18 counted flights were affected by 13:28 CET, including unidentified flights at Prague and Madrid.
France: Aer Lingus diverted
Aer Lingus flight EI402, an Airbus A320 from Dublin to Rome, left Dublin at about 6:25 am local time and received a bomb alert en route. It was diverted to the Évreux-Fauville military airbase in Normandy, about 100 km west of Paris, and landed safely.
French authorities moved all 151 passengers and six crew to safety, and bomb-disposal personnel examined the aircraft. The French Air Force dispatched aircraft after the threat was reported, and the Prime Minister’s Office, headed by Sébastien Lecornu, said it was monitoring the situation. Aer Lingus said the diversion was a precaution and that it would arrange onward travel to Rome.
Bulgaria: three Ryanair flights
Three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia were affected: FR6410 from Madrid and FR3606 from Copenhagen, which landed at Sofia’s Vasil Levski Airport, and FR1730 from London Stansted, which was diverted to Plovdiv, about 120 km away. Bulgaria’s Defence Ministry said MiG-29 fighters, acting under NATO’s Joint Air Operations Centre, were scrambled to detect, identify and escort the aircraft.
The planes were taken to isolated parking areas, emergency services were sent, and passengers were evacuated while security teams examined aircraft and luggage. Passengers from Plovdiv were to be taken to Sofia by bus. Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry said all three aircraft were inspected and no issues were found, and operations at both airports returned to normal.
Belgium: LOT flight lands safely
LOT flight LO235 from Warsaw to Brussels received a security warning in flight. The crew carried out an onboard inspection and found nothing suspicious, and the aircraft landed safely at Brussels Airport. A further inspection after landing also found nothing. Airport spokesperson Ihsane Chioua Lekhli said Belgian federal police analysed the warning and decided no additional security measures were needed. The aircraft did not divert or make an emergency landing.
Other flights
A Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw was diverted to Vienna. A Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome, AY1761, with 144 passengers and seven crew, was escorted by Italian Air Force aircraft to Fiumicino and landed safely, and Finnair said the threat was unfounded.
Finnair flight AY1471 from Helsinki to Vienna, operated by Jettime with 177 passengers and six crew, landed safely and was described as a hoax.
A Wizz Air flight from Milan to Bucharest, with 182 passengers and seven crew, landed safely, and Romanian intelligence services said checks found nothing concerning. An Aegean flight from Thessaloniki and a Ryanair flight from Porto, both heading to Milan, also received threats and landed safely.
Czech police received reports of explosive devices on four aircraft approaching Prague. They first assessed the credibility as low, but all four underwent pyrotechnic inspections with negative results, and the investigation passed to the National Centre Against Terrorism, Extremism and Cybercrime.
Spanish authorities said three flights at Madrid were affected by apparent hoax threats and ruled out any risk. In Poland, a LOT flight from Warsaw to Paris was stopped while taxiing, inspected, found clear and later continued on another aircraft.
Earlier incidents
Similar incidents occurred earlier in the week. On November 2, a Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Sofia was escorted by Hungarian Gripen fighters to Budapest, and continued to Sofia after checks. On November 3, at least seven flights run by LOT, SAS, Ryanair and Wizz Air were affected, and no devices were found.
Who is behind it?
No government or agency has attributed the threats. Italian news agency ANSA, citing police sources, reported that an anonymous Italian-language email headed “segnalazione minaccia” warned of threats to two Rome-bound flights and was sent early on November 5 to Rome airport operator ADR.
Bulgarian authorities have said earlier threats came by email, with investigators tracing some to addresses linked to IP addresses in other European countries. That several threats were sent electronically does not show a common sender.
European officials and security experts have raised the possibility of hybrid disruption, in which false alarms impose costs without conventional attack.
Why hoaxes still cause disruption
Authorities must treat each threat as potentially real, which means informing crews and air-traffic control, deciding whether to divert, evacuating passengers where needed and inspecting aircraft and baggage before aircraft return to service. Diversions, replacement aircraft, emergency deployments and delays carry significant costs even when nothing is found.
