Wave of bomb threats against European airliners triggers diversions and tarmac searches
A wave of bomb threats against passenger airliners caused chaos in the skies and airports of Europe on Thursday, the latest of such incidents this week that have prompted emergency landings and security sweeps on runways.
No explosives have so far been found, and it is not clear who or what is behind the security threats made against at least 14 airliners. But the threats have caused disruption to Europe’s airspace and some of its busiest airports.
The threats against two flights that landed in Rome came by email that cited opposition to “your feminist regime,” the airport confirmed to NBC News. Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is a woman who has conservative views.
One of the first reports involved Aer Lingus Flight EI402 from Dublin to Rome, which changed course near Paris and diverted to a French air force base, the airline said. There, all 151 passengers and six crewmembers were evacuated while a bomb squad inspected the aircraft, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s office said in a statement.
Confirmed flights threatened Thursday
Aer Lingus EI402 from Dublin to Rome — received bomb threat over France, made emergency landing at air base and inspected by bomb squad, according to airline and French officials.
Finnair AY1761 from Helsinki, Finland, to Rome Fiumicino — escorted into Rome by Italian air force jets, bomb squad search found no explosives, airline said.
Finnair AY1471 from Helsinki to Vienna — also received bomb threat, likewise no explosives found, according to airline.
LOT Polish Airlines LO235 from Warsaw, Poland, to Brussels — crew made midair checks after receiving threat, "additional screening" once in Brussels found no "suspicious items," airline said.
LOT Polish Airlines LO331 from Warsaw to Paris — stopped while taxiing and directed to parking stand where searched, airline said. Passengers continued on trips after switching planes.
Ryanair FR3606 from Copenhagen, Denmark, to Sofia, Bulgaria, and Ryanair FR6410 from Madrid to Sofia — both landed normally following bomb threat, no explosives found, according to Bulgarian Transport Ministry.
Ryanair FR1730 from London Stansted to Sofia — also received a bomb threat and diverted to Plovdiv, Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Transport Ministry said.
Wizz Air WMT3064 from Milan to Bucharest — airport said it was notified of the bomb threat as flight was arriving, bomb squad found nothing.
Czech police say four unidentified flights headed for Prague also received threats.
From there, reports of threats in the skies over Europe arrived at a dizzying pace, triggering searches by cabin crews and then again by airport security crews on the ground.
Security operations were launched at airports in Prague; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Warsaw, Poland, where passengers saw the military and police sniffer dogs patrolling the tarmac.
“It is too early to draw conclusions on whether the reported incidents are linked,” Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the European commissioner for sustainable transport and tourism, said at a news conference in Brussels.
British Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander appealed for calm, telling Sky News, “We have established processes for dealing with hoax and malicious threats, and that’s what these threats have been.”
Italian air force jets escorted a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome’s Fiumicino Airport “following anonymous reports of a suspected bomb threat,” said a spokesperson for the city’s airport authority. Bomb disposal experts found nothing.
“Unfortunately, air traffic is sometimes subject to threats, as we have seen this week, when other airlines in Europe have also faced hoax bomb threats,” a Finnair spokesperson, Stiina Tuunanen, said in an email. “Threats are almost always unfounded.”
That was also the case for another Finnair flight from Helsinki to Vienna, whose threat was found to be baseless after it landed safely in the Austrian capital.
LOT Polish Airlines said two of its aircraft from Warsaw were targeted, one flying to Brussels and the other to Paris.
Back on the ground in Warsaw, Polish resident Matthew Bojarsky, 28, was about to fly to Paris for a romantic trip with his American girlfriend, but he saw police, military and sniffer dogs on the tarmac, he told NBC News. Passengers were told that “safety protocols” meant their flight, LOT LO331, had to be aborted and moved to a later time.
Elsewhere, three Ryanair flights were interrupted as they headed to the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. Two flights, from Copenhagen and Milan, landed at their destination, while a third, from London, was diverted to the city of Plovdiv, the Bulgarian Transport Ministry said in an email.
Ryanair did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Romania’s intelligence agency said a KLM flight to Tel Aviv with a layover in Bucharest had received a bomb threat.
And Spanish police said three emailed threats came in within 20 minutes involving two Air Europa departures from Madrid to Paris and four inbound Iberia flights from Rome and Milan. Several aircraft were halted or returned to their stands in Madrid, and passengers disembarked as the aircraft were inspected.
In the Czech Republic, meanwhile, police said they had received threats about improvised explosive devices being placed on four planes heading to the country’s capital, Prague.
In this instance, it appeared that at least some of the threats were sent by email, so “clearly there must be a process whereby airlines distinguish more credible threats from obvious hoaxes,” said Peter Neumann, a professor of security studies at Kings College London.
Thursday’s incidents follow days of airline bomb threats that have forced multiple flights to divert and an airport in Poland to close briefly. No explosive devices were found in the earlier incidents, according to authorities in various countries.
On Tuesday, a security operation was also launched at the Greek island port of Syros after a bomb threat to an Israel-bound cruise ship. Authorities said an unknown person claimed an explosive device had been attached to the hull of the Panama-flagged Crown Iris, which was due to sail to Haifa.
Authorities have not indicated who could have been behind the incidents, and there were no claims of responsibility.
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