A new wave of bomb threats directed against several commercial aircraft this Thursday caused disruptions in European air traffic, with emergency landings and security operations in different countries. At the moment, none of the alerts have confirmed the presence of explosive devices.
France
An Aer Lingus flight covering the route between Dublin and Rome, EI402, landed without incident at Évreux airport, located about 100 kilometers west of Paris, after being diverted as a precaution, according to the Irish company.
The office of French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has confirmed that the flight, an A320, "has been diverted to Évreux air base following a bomb threat." "It has landed safely," he said, before emphasizing that "the 151 passengers and six crew members are safe." "The explosive disposal teams are intervening," he concluded.
Belgium
Also in Belgium, a Polish airline LOT plane flying from Warsaw to Brussels landed safely at Zaventem airport after receiving a security alert. The company confirmed that the threat had not been verified.
Two flights in Austria
For its part, a Finnair plane from Helsinki, operated by the company Jettime, landed normally in Vienna after receiving a bomb threat, according to a spokesperson for the Finnish airline. Also a Wizz Air flight, which left from Milan-Malpensa, bound for Warsaw, landed in Vienna, the company reported in a statement, according to Afp.
Three planes in Italy
Finnair had previously reported that another of its flights, bound for Rome, had also landed after receiving a similar alert. The aircraft was escorted to its destination by the Italian Air Force.
In addition, two planes also with bomb alerts – an Aegean Airlines flight from Thessaloniki and a Ryanair flight from Porto – landed safely at their destination, Malpensa airport in Milan, an airport source reported on Thursday. The police intervened with explosive disposal experts to inspect the luggage and the crew.
Three flights in Bulgaria
Three flights to Bulgaria and departures from Madrid, London and Copenhagen have been affected this Thursday by new false bomb threats, as informed to EFE by the Ministry of Transport, which has confirmed that no explosive devices have been found on any of the three planes.
Flights from Madrid and Copenhagen landed on time at Sofia's Vasil Levski Airport. The aircraft were diverted to remote areas, the passengers were evacuated, their luggage was inspected, and the planes were searched. The flight from London was diverted to Plovdiv airport, 120 kilometers from Sofia, and was subject to the same security protocols there. All flights were from the Ryanair airline.
Four airplanes in Czech Republic
Four planes heading to Prague received bomb threats this Thursday, so the police prepared for their landing, as reported by the Czech police force through the social network X. They also indicated that they consider the credibility of said threats to be low.
"We do not underestimate the threat; therefore, all necessary security measures have been activated, with minimal impact on passengers and airport operations," said the police, who inspected the aircraft after landing. Later, the CTK agency reported that no explosives were found on any of the four planes.
Romania
The Romanian intelligence agency has reported that a bomb threat was received on a Wizz Air flight covering the route from Milan to Bucharest, adding that the plane landed safely in the Romanian capital. After inspecting the device, the same agency deactivated the threat.
This incident occurs after nine flights in Europe had to activate security devices last Tuesday due to bomb alerts that turned out to be false, including one that covered the route between Manchester (United Kingdom) and Murcia (Spain).
Although no country has so far claimed responsibility for these threats, the succession of incidents coincides with accusations by European officials against Russia and Iran for what they describe as "hybrid attacks" and acts of sabotage. Both Moscow and Tehran deny being behind any such campaign.
