Multiple European Flights Diverted Following Bomb Threats

Multiple flights in Europe made emergency landings on Thursday after being diverted because of bomb threats, authorities said.

Diversions in Bulgaria and Italy

Several flights were diverted due to threats received while in flight:

• Ryanair: Three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia, Bulgaria, had to make emergency landings. Two of the flights, one from Copenhagen, Denmark, and the other from Madrid, landed safely at Sofia’s Vasil Levski Airport, airport officials told reporters. The third flight, from London’s Stansted Airport to Sofia, landed safely at Plovdiv Airport, according to Plovdiv Airport CEO Krassimir Peshev.
• Finnair: Finnair said that Flight 1761 from Helsinki to Rome was targeted by a bomb threat, but nothing out of the ordinary was found on the plane after it landed normally in the Italian capital, Finnish broadcaster Yle reported.

Diversion to French Military Base

A flight from Ireland to Italy was diverted to a military air base in western France on Thursday because of a bomb threat, the French prime minister’s office said. The flight landed safely at the base in Evreux in Normandy, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s office said. All 151 passengers and six crew members are safe and military bomb defusal teams are examining the plane. Flight tracking sites showed that the Aer Lingus Dublin-Rome flight was approaching Paris when it turned sharply off its trajectory and made several loops before heading toward Evreux.

Pattern of Hoax Threats

Several flights across Europe received hoax bomb threats this week that prompted searches, diversions and, in one case, an escort by the Italian air force until landing, officials said. The flights included Polish airline LOT, Scandinavian Airlines, Wizz Air and Ryanair. These hoax threats came a day after a plane headed for Bulgaria was diverted to Hungary after receiving a similar bomb threat while in the air. No one was injured.

Authorities noted that such threats come at a time of increased geopolitical tensions and signs of "disruption," such as drone incursions in Europe and attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems.

Why it matters

The series of bomb threats and subsequent diversions has caused multiple emergency landings across several European countries, requiring military intervention and security searches.

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Sources

• ctvnews.ca: Europe flights diverted due to bomb threats
• nypost.com: Multiple flights in Europe diverted because of bomb threats

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.