Bomb threats disrupt Europe flights

Several European flights were disrupted on Tuesday after receiving hoax bomb threats, prompting searches, diversions and in one case an escort by the Italian Air Force, according to officials. The airlines affected included Polish LOT, Scandinavian Airlines, Wizz Air and Ryanair. This series of incidents occurred a day following a similar event where a plane headed to Bulgaria was diverted to Hungary due to a bomb threat while airborne.

No one was injured in any of the incidents. Matthew Borie, co-founder and chief intelligence officer of Osprey Flight Solutions, suggested several possible explanations for these unexplained threats, such as a single threat triggering copycat incidents, multiple threats from one individual or group, or even state actors or their supporters orchestrating "hybrid warfare" disruptions.

Borie noted that such threats are not new and have been exacerbated by current geopolitical tensions. European flights receiving bomb threats may suggest a Russian angle, but Iranian hybrid warfare is also active in certain European regions. He advised travelers not to be alarmed, highlighting the coordinated response mechanisms of national authorities, including the deployment of NATO fighter jets to escort planes.

In one incident, a Ryanair flight from Lisbon to Rome received an email claiming a bomb was onboard. Police bomb disposal experts conducted security checks on passengers, crew and baggage and found no explosives. Another Ryanair flight to Rome from Dublin also received a bomb threat, but also found no explosives. Polish airline LOT had to divert a flight from London's Heathrow Airport to Warsaw's Chopin Airport due to a bomb threat, though no threats were found when searching the aircraft.

Similarly, Scandinavian Airlines received information about a potentially dangerous item on a flight from Copenhagen, which also resulted in no threats being found. Spanish authorities ruled out explosives on a Ryanair plane from Manchester that landed in Murcia Airport, while Bulgarian authorities found no explosives on two aircraft that had received bomb threats.