Half a dozen European flights, two headed to Warsaw (Poland) from London and Copenhagen, another that covered the Manchester (United Kingdom)-Murcia (Spain) route and another from Israel that landed in Sofia, have registered threats that have forced the activation of security devices at airports. To them we must add, according to Corriere della Sera, two other Ryanair flights, one from Dublin and the other from Lisbon, which are being registered in Rome.
In reality, it all started at 9:10 in the morning yesterday, Monday. A plane from the low-cost airline Wizz - the third largest in Europe, based in Bulgaria - made an emergency landing at the airport in the Hungarian capital, Sofia, after the authorities had informed the crew that they had received an email with a bomb threat. The plane did not undergo a change of route, since it was flying from the Italian city of Bergamo to Sofia. After its evacuation, the Bulgarian security forces examined the device. They did not find any signs of explosives. Two and a half hours later, at nine minutes past 12 noon, another Wizz plane landed, this time at the airport of the Bulgarian capital, Budapest. Closely followed by a fighter-bomber from that country's Air Force, which was monitoring another bomb threat.
Those were the first indications. Today, the situation has exploded. At 9:28, a plane from the Scandinavian airline SAS made an emergency landing at Warsaw airport, 1,075 kilometers in a straight line from Sofia. The plane was en route from Copenhagen to Warsaw and, according to a passenger, landed after the captain informed the occupants of the aircraft that a phone call had been received informing them that there was a bomb on board. Warsaw airport was partially closed to traffic while the threat was investigated. Again, the plane was examined. Again, nothing was found.
But the closure of Warsaw airport had consequences for another plane, this time from the Polish airlines, LOT, which carried out the route from Heathrow, in London - the airport with the most air traffic in Europe - to the Polish capital. At ten minutes past, only 31 minutes after the SAS incident, that plane, which had been waiting its turn to land in Warsaw, had to make an emergency landing at Warsaw-Modin Airport. The reason? Seven minutes earlier, according to Polish civil aviation authorities, another bomb threat had been received.
By then it was already a cascade of European flights with bomb threats. Lisbon-Rome; Manchester-Murcia; and Dublin-Rome, all from the European low-cost airline Ryanair, received bomb threats. None were real. By mid-afternoon, there were already seven false alarms. It seemed like too much of a coincidence for this to be a well-organized joke. Rather, it seemed like a 'hybrid war' scenario intended to generate an atmosphere of fear among European travelers.
Murcia
A Ryanair company plane from Manchester (United Kingdom) bound for the International Airport of the Region of Murcia also received a bomb threat on board this Tuesday. The plane landed at Murcia airport at 10:50 and, from that moment, a large security device made up of emergency services, agents from the National Police and TEDAX specialists has been put in place. After the inspection, the Government delegate, Francisco Lucas, reported that the presence of an explosive device has been ruled out.
Sofia
Furthermore, a plane from Israel made an emergency landing in Sofia this Tuesday after receiving a bomb threat sent by email, as reported by the Bulgarian Government, which has not specified either the destination or the airline of the affected flight.
The device has been taken to a parking area away from the terminal and other aircraft to be inspected, said the chief secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Lyubomir Nikolov, according to public radio BNR.
At the moment, there is no information about specific terrorist intentions or actions, Nikolov said, adding that security measures at airports have been strengthened.
Rome
According to Corriere della Sera, a false bomb alarm has also occurred at Fiumicino airport, after warnings were received of the presence of explosive devices on two Ryanair company planes coming from Lisbon and Dublin. The warnings activated Air Force fighter escort to the affected planes.
The planes will land normally at the Roman airport at 9:40 and 10:44. Once at the airport, the device, the passengers and the luggage were inspected by the bomb squad without any explosives being found. The checks were completed around noon.
