Multiple flights diverted across Europe over bomb threats

Multiple flights across Europe faced disruptions on Thursday due to bomb threats, leading to emergency landings, searches, and in some cases, military escorts. Over a dozen flights from cities such as Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Madrid, Milan, and Warsaw were targeted, with most being diverted to other airports for emergency landings while a few landed safely at their destinations. Inspections conducted so far have not revealed any hazardous or suspicious materials.

Among the affected flights, a flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to a military air base in western France, landing safely at Evreux in Normandy. All 151 passengers and six crew members were unharmed, and military bomb disposal teams were examining the plane. The passengers were questioned and checked in groups of ten at the airport before the Red Cross vehicle and explosives experts with dogs inspected the aircraft.

Italian authorities alerted the French government about the bomb threat on the Aer Lingus flight, prompting the French warplane to escort it to the Evreux base. French aviation security authorities opened an investigation. Finnish airlines Finnair also faced hoax bomb threats, with two of its flights – one from Helsinki to Rome and another from Helsinki to Vienna – landing safely at their respective destinations after inspections found no threats. Czech police conducted searches on four other planes at Prague, which turned up no threats.

LOT Polish Airlines, Wizz Air, and Ryanair all reported bomb threats on their respective flights, but inspections revealed no threats. Air traffic at various airports continued on schedule. Polish authorities checked a LOT flight that was about to depart for Paris after a threat was reported at Warsaw's Chopin Airport, but no threat was identified. The runway at Chopin airport was temporarily closed for standard security procedures.

Three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia, Bulgaria, made emergency landings in Sofia and Plovdiv due to bomb threats. These flights were escorted by fighter jets on air policing duty. The hoax bomb threats prompted similar searches and diversions earlier in the week, following a similar incident where a plane headed for Bulgaria was diverted to Hungary. No injuries were reported in any of the incidents.