Bomb threat on Wizz Air flight; Hungarian Gripen fighter escorts plane to Budapest

In brief

• A Wizz Air flight from London to Sofia was diverted to Budapest after a bomb threat on Monday.
• A Hungarian Gripen fighter was scrambled under a NATO ALPHA alert and escorted the airliner to a safe landing.
• The aircraft landed around 12:08 on a secondary runway, which was temporarily closed, while police carried out security checks.

Diversion over Bosnia and Herzegovina

A Wizz Air Airbus A321neo operating the London–Sofia route on Monday changed course after the crew received a warning that an explosive device had been placed on board (Let Wizz Air přerušila bombová hrozba. Letadlo doprovodil do Budapešti gripen – Novinky.cz) (Groza w samolocie Wizz Air. Poderwano myśliwiec NATO – Wirtualna Polska). The plane turned back over Bosnia and Herzegovina and asked permission to land at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (Alarm bombowy na pokładzie Wizz Aira. Samolot eskortowały węgierskie myśliwce – Onet).

Fighter jet scrambled

Hungarian Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said on Facebook that NATO's air defence had issued an ALPHA alert in connection with the threat (Alarm na pokładzie samolotu pasażerskiego. Węgrzy poderwali lotnictwo bojowe – Polsat News). A Hungarian Gripen was airborne within minutes and stayed with the airliner until it was safely on the ground in Budapest (Угорщина підняла винищувачі, щоб супроводити літак після повідомлення про загрозу вибуху – Українська правда). The minister said the jet then returned to its base at Kecskemét, about 100 kilometres south of Budapest, and that further steps were in the hands of the police (Alarm bombowy na pokładzie Wizz Aira. Samolot eskortowany przez myśliwiec – RMF24).

Landing and airport response

The aircraft landed at about 12:08 local time on a secondary runway, according to Reuters. Firefighters, police and a counter-terrorism unit were waiting on the apron. Their intervention proved unnecessary, but one runway was closed for the duration of the operation. Wizz Air said the authorities were carrying out security checks on the aircraft and its passengers.

Context

The incident follows two bomb-related evacuations at Chișinău airport in Moldova in early and late October, according to Ukrainian media. No injuries were reported in the Budapest incident in the material available to this report.