Dozen Flights Diverted in Europe After Fresh Wave of Bomb Threats

More than a dozen European flights made emergency landings or were diverted on Thursday following a new series of bomb threats.

Authorities confirmed that aircraft originating from Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Madrid, Milan, and Warsaw were targeted. Most planes diverted to alternate airports for inspections, while others landed safely at their original destinations. Initial checks have not revealed any hazardous or suspicious materials.

A flight from Dublin to Rome was redirected to the military air base in Evreux, Normandy, according to the office of French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu. The plane carried 151 passengers and six crew members, all of whom were safe. Military bomb disposal teams examined the aircraft at the base. The prime minister’s office stated it was monitoring the situation in real time but released no further details.

In Italy, a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome arrived at Leonardo da Vinci airport around 9:30 a.m. The plane was escorted by Italian air force fighter jets. An airport official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said police bomb disposal experts completed security clearance procedures without finding explosives.

Czech police cleared four additional planes that landed in Prague after being targeted by threats. Officials did not specify the origin of those flights. In Austria, Stefan Loidl, a police spokesperson in Lower Austria, said a flight to Warsaw landed in Vienna following an abstract threat sent to Polish authorities. The plane continued to Warsaw after a search found nothing. Loidl also noted an abstract threat regarding four other flights at Vienna Airport, which did not disrupt operations.

At Warsaw’s Chopin Airport, Piotr Rudzki, an airport spokesman, said a LOT Polish Airlines flight to Paris was checked before departure. One runway closed temporarily during standard security procedures. A separate LOT flight from Warsaw to Brussels landed at its destination, where inspections found no items of concern. A Wizz Air flight from Milan to Bucharest also landed safely following a threat.

Three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia, Bulgaria, made emergency landings. Two planes, one from Copenhagen and one from Madrid, landed at Sofia’s Vasil Levski Airport. A third flight from London’s Stansted Airport diverted to Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second-largest city, according to Plovdiv Airport CEO Krassimir Peshev. These incidents follow hoax threats earlier this week that affected Scandinavian Airlines and other carriers, including a diversion to Hungary for a plane headed to Bulgaria.