Dozen flights diverted across Europe after fresh wave of bomb threats

European aviation authorities confirmed that more than a dozen flights were diverted or subjected to emergency landings on Thursday due to reported bomb threats. The incidents occurred across a wide geographic range, affecting routes originating in Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Madrid, Milan, and Warsaw. Most aircraft made emergency landings at nearby airports, while others arrived at their intended destinations after inspections found no hazardous materials.

A flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to a military air base in Evreux, Normandy. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s office stated that all 151 passengers and six crew members were safe. Military bomb disposal teams examined the aircraft at the base. The government said it was monitoring the situation in real time but released no further details immediately.

In another notable incident, a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome was escorted by Italian air force fighter jets. The plane landed at Leonardo da Vinci airport at approximately 9:30 a.m. An airport official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said police bomb disposal experts completed security clearance procedures. No explosives were found during the inspection.

Czech police searched four planes that landed in Prague after receiving bomb threats. The searches came back clear. Police did not specify the cities where those flights originated. Meanwhile, a flight to Warsaw landed in Vienna after a mail threat was sent to Polish authorities. Stefan Loidl, a police spokesperson in Lower Austria, said the plane continued to Warsaw after nothing was found. He also noted an abstract threat concerning four other flights at Vienna Airport, though operations were not disrupted.

At Warsaw’s Chopin Airport, authorities checked a LOT Polish Airlines flight bound for Paris after a threat was reported. Airport spokesman Piotr Rudzki said one runway was temporarily closed for standard security procedures. No specific threat was identified. Separately, a LOT flight from Warsaw to Brussels landed at its destination, where inspections found no suspicious items.

Three Ryanair flights headed for Sofia, Bulgaria, made emergency landings. Two planes, one from Copenhagen and one from Madrid, landed safely at Sofia’s Vasil Levski Airport. A third flight from London’s Stansted Airport was diverted to Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second-largest city. Plovdiv Airport CEO Krassimir Peshev confirmed the aircraft landed safely there.

These incidents follow a series of hoax bomb threats earlier in the week. Those previous threats prompted searches and diversions for flights operated by LOT, Scandinavian Airlines, Wizz Air, and Ryanair. In one earlier case, a plane headed for Bulgaria was diverted to Hungary. No injuries were reported in the earlier incidents. Authorities noted that these events occur amid increased geopolitical tensions and other disruptions, including drone incursions and attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems.