Wave of bomb threats cause emergency landings for several flights across Europe

Seventy-seven European passenger planes were compelled to land on Thursday due to suspected bomb threats. Earlier, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's office reported an Airbus A320 plane from Dublin to Rome was diverted to France's Evreux airbase after receiving a bomb alert. The Aer Lingus flight safely landed at Evreux airport, located 100 km west of Paris. Aer Lingus flight #EI402 (Dublin - Rome) declared a squawk 7700, triggering the diversion.

According to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, the Aer Lingus aircraft circled near Paris before landing at Evreux. Rome Fiumicino Airport was temporarily closed due to the bomb threat. Six other planes were also diverted. Three aircraft, flying from Copenhagen, Madrid, and London, respectively, landed in Sofia, Plovdiv, and Brussels. A Finnair plane from Helsinki was escorted to Rome safely by the Italian air force, while another Finnair flight from Helsinki landed normally in Vienna.

Moscow and Tehran have denied involvement in the bomb threats, which occurred amid accusations of "hybrid attacks" and acts of sabotage by European officials. Earlier this week, hackers also disrupted fridges in supermarkets across several European countries, raising concerns that hoax bomb threats may be part of a similar pattern of low-cost, deniable disruption efforts.