European officials reported bomb threats against flights on Friday, while Irish media offices were evacuated. No suspicious items were found and no one was injured.
Officials across Europe reported additional bomb threats against multiple flights on Friday, following a string of hoaxes that have caused flight diversions this week. Broadcasters also received security threats.
No suspicious items have been found and no one has been injured.
Eurocontrol said it was aware of bomb threats against 14 flights on Thursday — only 0.05% of all of the nearly 26,300 flights across the European network that day — and seven on Tuesday. The European Union’s transportation commissioner, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, said there were 11 more on Friday.
French authorities reported threats against four aircraft flying over the country on Friday. All landed safely. A Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome diverted to Venice, where passengers were evacuated and security checks were conducted. Police in Denmark and the Czech Republic also investigated threats, with Copenhagen Airport continuing to operate normally.
Bomb threats forced the evacuation of major Irish media offices and disrupted broadcasts on Friday. Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ, the Irish Independent newspaper group and the Dublin offices housing Newstalk and Today FM were among those evacuated. Police said they were investigating threats against media organizations in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe.
At RTÉ’s Donnybrook campus in Dublin, staff left buildings as police, including armed officers, arrived to conduct searches. The broadcaster initially replaced live programming with prerecorded material before restoring news coverage through backup arrangements.
Newstalk resumed broadcasting at 10 a.m. local time after employees were cleared to return. Presenter Claire Byrne said the threat had been deemed a hoax. An RTÉ reporter said the broadcaster received an email shortly before 9 a.m. claiming a bomb would explode within 45 minutes.
Sky also said it received a security threat and had carried out an assessment and contacted the authorities. Emails sent to newsrooms claimed responsibility for the recent airline threats, but the sender’s identity and any connection between the incidents had not been verified.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said police and the Defence Forces were working to identify those responsible. Authorities had not established whether an individual or a coordinated group was behind the threats, he said. Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris said security officials and cyber experts were treating the situation seriously and coordinating with European counterparts.
Tzitzikostas said after a meeting with Eurocontrol and the EU’s Aviation Safety Agency in Brussels that security experts will meet in the Belgian capital next week to discuss additional measures needed to deal with the bomb threats.
“Our priority here is clear. The safety of passengers and the smooth functioning of European aviation,” he said.
Robert Jordan, research director at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute think tank, told the BBC that there are more ways than ever to make threats against flights, and secure messaging apps have allowed for greater anonymity.
“The risk appetite for airlines is always going to be incredibly low,” he said, noting the great strides that have been made in airport security in recent years. “It is baked into their safety procedures, and it’s baked into their security procedures.”
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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A new wave of bomb threats hit European airlines and media outlets on Friday, following earlier threats this week. No explosives have been found on any planes.
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