New wave of bomb threats hits at least 25 passenger flights across Europe
While no country has attributed blame for the threats, they come at a time when many European officials have accused Russia of masterminding sabotage and "hybrid attacks".
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PARIS: A series of hoax bomb threats hit European airlines from Ireland to Bulgaria on Thursday (Nov 5) morning for the second time this week, with some of at least 25 affected flights making unplanned landings or escorted by fighter jets.
While no country has attributed blame for the threats, they come at a time when many European officials have accused Russia of masterminding sabotage and "hybrid attacks" - often cheap, easily deniable and not expected to trigger an armed response.
Denmark, Poland and Romania, all affected by Thursday's disruptions, have previously accused Moscow directly, while Germany blamed Russia for an attack on Leipzig airport in August. Britain has blamed Russia in the past but linked Iran to a suspected plot to attack a US air base. Both Russia and Iran deny any involvement.
Eric Schouten, head of the aviation security group Dyami, said most of the countries affected supported Ukraine in its war against Russia's invasion.
"From a geopolitical view, I'm thinking, you always have to think about the scenario of hybrid warfare, where a country in this way - today we are looking at Russia, right? - is attacking us on multiple fronts, from railways to supermarkets to blood banks, most recently. The energy sector, the internet sector, and the aviation sector are among those," he said.
The European Union said it was not yet clear whether the spate of hoax bomb alerts were connected, and that it was following events closely with national authorities.
"Any threats against civilians are unacceptable," EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas posted on X, adding that it was "too early to draw conclusions on whether the reported incidents are linked".
FROM MILAN TO PRAGUE AND BEYOND
Aer Lingus flight EI402 from Dublin to Rome landed safely at Evreux airport, 100km west of Paris, after being diverted as a security precaution, the Irish airline said in a statement.
Quoting the office of French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, Reuters reported that the Airbus A320 plane was diverted to France's Evreux airbase.
The situation is being monitored by the Prime Minister's office, it added.
According to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, an Aer Lingus aircraft turned near Paris and was circling over the Evreux area after declaring an in-flight emergency.
France's air force said it had dispatched planes "as soon as the threat was reported", AFP reported.
"The aircraft has been diverted and is being escorted to the Evreux airfield" west of Paris, it added.
A Finnair flight from Helsinki, operated by charter airline Jettime, on Thursday landed as normal in Vienna after receiving a bomb threat, a spokesperson for the Finnish carrier said.
Finnair earlier said that another Finnair flight to Rome had landed after receiving a bomb threat, Reuters reported.
According to AFP, the Helsinki-Rome flight was escorted to Rome by a fighter jet and was checked by bomb disposal experts.
Reuters, citing a source, reported that a flight operated by Polish airline LOT flying from Warsaw landed safely at Brussels Airport following a suspicious report.
A spokesperson for the airport told Belgian media that no additional security measures were necessary.
The airport did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Bulgarian officials meanwhile reported three aircraft making emergency landings in the Balkan country because of bomb threats. Airplanes flying from Copenhagen and Madrid landed safely in Sofia, the interior minister said, according to broadcaster bTV.
A third aircraft, from London, was diverted and landed in Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second-largest city, local media said. The government did not respond to requests for comment.
Spanish authorities said that three flights were affected by hoax bomb threats at Madrid's airport on Thursday morning, though they stressed that security forces had ruled out any risk.
It is unclear if this includes the plane from Madrid that had landed in Sofia.
Meanwhile, Czech police on Thursday said four planes headed to Prague received bomb threats and the authorities were preparing for their landing, adding they assessed the credibility of the threats as low.
"Nevertheless, we are not underestimating the threat, which is why all necessary security measures have been activated with minimal impact on passengers and airport operations," the police said on X.
"After landing, all aircraft will undergo pyrotechnic inspections."
CTK News agency later reported that no explosives were found in the four planes that landed in Prague, citing a police spokesperson.
Separately, the Romanian intelligence agency said on Thursday that a bomb threat was made on a Wizz Air flight from Milan to Bucharest, adding the plane landed safely in the Romanian capital, Reuters reported.
Italy's ANSA news agency meanwhile reported on bomb alerts on two flights bound for Milan's Malpensa Airport, both of which have since landed safely.
The string of incidents comes after about 10 European flights were targeted by bomb threats on Tuesday, forcing the brief closure of a Warsaw airport and the scrambling of air force planes in Rome, according to authorities.
No explosives were found in the earlier incidents, despite extensive searches on the ground after the planes all took off and landed safely in different European cities just several hours apart, AFP reported.
Irish budget carrier Ryanair appeared to be the worst hit, with four of its flights to different destinations being targeted.
Two bomb warnings targeted planes heading to the Polish capital Warsaw, including an SAS Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen and one from Heathrow operated by Polish airline LOT, Polish airport authorities said.
This week, unidentified hackers shut down fridges in supermarkets in several European countries. Some experts said hoax bomb threats could be part of a similar pattern of cheap, deniable disruption efforts.
Eliran Almog, CEO of aviation cybersecurity firm Cyviation, told Reuters the repeated threats could serve both to disrupt operations and to observe how airlines, airports and national authorities respond.
"These aviation threats are also occurring in the same period as cyberattacks on supermarket refrigeration systems across Europe," Almog said.
"Different essential services are experiencing disruption that carries economic costs and can undermine public confidence."
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