Bomb threats hit more than a dozen European flights in one day; no explosives found

In brief

• Bomb threats on more than ten European passenger flights on 5 November led to diversions and emergency landings.
• An Aer Lingus flight was redirected to a French military base, and several other flights were escorted or checked after landing.
• No explosives were found on any flight, and the European Union said it had not established whether the incidents are linked.

Diversions across several countries

More than ten passenger flights received warnings of explosives on board on Wednesday, 5 November (У Європі літаки екстрено змінюють маршрути через повідомлення про вибухівку – Espreso) (В Европе десятки авиарейсов получили уведомление о взрывчатке на борту и были вынуждены сменить курс — что известно – NV) (В Европе более 10 самолетов получили предупреждения о бомбах на борту. Это второй такой массовый случай за неделю – Meduza). An Aer Lingus service from Dublin to Rome was redirected to a French military base at Évreux, where its 151 passengers and six crew were evacuated to a safe area (Európska letecká doprava čelí opakovaným bombovým hrozbám, desiatky letov museli odkloniť – Aktuality.sk). A French fighter jet escorted the aircraft during its approach.

Italian and Romanian links

French media attributed the initial warning on the Aer Lingus flight to Italian authorities. Italian air force fighters also escorted a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome to Fiumicino airport (Viacero komerčných letov v Európe sa opäť stalo terčom hrozby bombového útoku – STVR). In Romania, intelligence officials said a threat had been received about a flight operated by Wizz Air, and the aircraft landed safely at its destination (У Європі літаки екстрено сідають через серію повідомлень про замінування – ЗМІ – Українська правда).

Czech and Bulgarian routes

Czech police confirmed that four aircraft bound for Prague had received threats, but assessed their credibility as low and said the planes would be checked after landing. In Bulgaria, Sofia was the destination of several flights. Ryanair services from Madrid and Copenhagen landed there, while a Ryanair flight from London was diverted to Plovdiv, according to Bulgarian broadcasters (Bombovým hrozbám čelí ve čtvrtek letadla po celé Evropě – Novinky.cz) (Bombové hrozby napříč Evropou. Letadla přistála v Bulharsku, ve Vídni či v Bruselu – iDNES.cz). Other affected flights included a LOT service from Warsaw to Brussels, a Wizz Air flight diverted to Vienna, and Finnair flights to Vienna.

Earlier wave

A similar cluster of threats hit at least seven European flights on 3 November, and none of those aircraft carried explosives (За день семь самолетов в Европе получили сообщения об угрозе взрыва – Charter 97) (Уже семь самолетов в Европе получили сообщения о бомбах за один день. Что произошло – Zerkalo). Reuters reported five aircraft that day, including a LOT flight that landed at Modlin airport near Warsaw, which was closed for about two hours, and a Ryanair flight checked in Murcia (В Европе пять самолетов за один день получили угрозы о бомбах на борту – Meduza) (Bombové hrozby ovplyvnili viacero letov v Európe, po pristátí ich okamžite prehľadali – STVR).

Authorities and suspects

No device had been found on any of the 5 November flights at the time of reporting. The European Union said it was monitoring the situation with national authorities and had not established whether the incidents are linked (Európska únia koordinuje bezpečnostné opatrenia po vlne falošných hrozieb na palubách lietadiel – Aktuality.sk). An email sent to airports in Rome and Sofia was reportedly signed by a group calling itself the "Male State fighters"; AFP said it could not verify the claim (Pod bombové hrozby z dvoch európskych letísk sa podpísali údajní "bojovníci Mužského štátu" – Aktuality.sk). European governments have not named any suspects.

Read also

• Bomb threats hit several European flights, including LOT and Wizz Air planes
• Aer Lingus jet bound for Rome from Dublin lands at French air base after bomb alert
• Bomb threats hit Finnair and other European flights, disrupting air traffic