Aer Lingus jet bound for Rome from Dublin lands at French air base after bomb alert

In brief

• An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to the Évreux air base in Normandy after a bomb alert on Thursday.
• The plane carried 151 passengers and six crew, and explosives specialists were sent to inspect it.
• The diversion followed a week of bomb threats against European flights, including at least seven emergency landings.

Diversion to Évreux

An Airbus A320 that had taken off from Dublin for Rome was sent to the Évreux military airfield, about 100 kilometres northwest of Paris, after a bomb alert, according to the office of French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu (Bombendrohung: Flieger von Dublin nach Rom nach Frankreich umgeleitet – DER SPIEGEL) (Dublin-Rome flight diverted to French military base over bomb threat – France 24). Authorities said 151 passengers and six crew members were being moved to safety, and explosives specialists were sent in to examine the aircraft (Aer Lingus flight to Rome diverted to military base after latest bomb threat, France says – Europe live | France | The Guardian – theguardian.com). Aer Lingus said flight EI402 had landed safely and described the diversion as a security precaution (‘Bomb alert’ diverts Rome-bound passenger plane – NBCNews.com).

Flight path and response

Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft turning sharply near Paris and heading for the more isolated Évreux airfield after declaring an in-flight emergency. France's air force said it sent aircraft as soon as the incident was reported and escorted the plane to the base (Dublin-Rome flight lands in France amid bomb threat – DW). The prime minister's office said it was following the situation in real time (Ve Francii nouzově přistálo další letadlo kvůli bombové hrozbě – Novinky.cz).

A week of threats

Bomb threats targeted about ten European flights on Tuesday, a day before the Évreux diversion. Those threats led to a brief closure of Warsaw's airport and to fighter jets being scrambled over Rome. A Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw was also forced to land unexpectedly, ending up in Vienna after turning back over Czech airspace. Reports say at least seven aircraft had to make emergency landings in connection with bomb threats that week. Whether the Wizz Air diversion was also linked to a bomb threat has not been established.

Threat timeline

Five separate bomb reports involving European flights came in on the evening of 2 November and through 3 November (У Франції літак екстрено перенаправили через повідомлення про загрозу вибуху – Європейська правда). Authorities have not released further details about the Évreux threat or its source.