A fresh wave of bomb threats hit European flights and media outlets on Friday, with fighter jet escorts and evacuations, though no explosives were found.
By Hermes-Vector AI Desk
Officials across Europe reported a new wave of bomb threats against multiple flights on Friday, following a series of hoaxes that had already disrupted air travel. Three broadcasters also received security threats, suggesting the issue may extend beyond aviation. 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 per cent 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.
In Hungary, the defence minister said fighter jets escorted three passenger planes Friday through the country’s airspace within an hour after each received a bomb threat. Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said the escorts were for flights from Brussels to the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, and from Prague to Cyprus and Romania.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s office said four bomb threats were made against aircraft flying over France. The planes landed safely at Paris’ Orly Airport and bomb disposal experts conducted inspections.
Threats were also made against a Prague-to-Bucharest, Romania, flight operated by Romanian carrier Tarom, and a Ryanair flight from the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, to Rome. A WizzAir flight from Prague to Rome was diverted to Venice after a bomb alert, and passengers were evacuated after the aircraft landed.
Nine of the affected flights were coming or going from Vaclav Havel Airport in Prague, airport spokesperson Denisa Hejtmankova said. They included flights from Denmark, Spain and Britain, and departures to the Netherlands and Britain, in addition to the ones to Cyprus, Italy and Romania.
In Ireland, the Dublin headquarters of national broadcaster RTE was evacuated Friday because of a bomb threat, and live broadcasts were replaced with prerecorded programs. Staff returned to the building after a few hours, once police with sniffer dogs had searched the area and declared it safe.
Separately, U.K.-based broadcaster Sky said it had also received a “security threat.” In a statement reported by Sky News channel, it said that “we are working closely with authorities to ensure our people and operations remain secure.” Sky News remained on air.
Meanwhile, NOVA TV, a private broadcaster in Bulgaria, said it received an email Friday threatening it with a bomb. It said the sender claimed to be behind the threats to European air traffic, and that the broadcaster implemented its standard safety measures without any interruptions to its TV and radio broadcasts.
It remains unclear who is behind the airline threats, which come at a time of increased geopolitical tensions and warnings from authorities that Russia may be ramping up so-called hybrid threats in Europe.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said Friday that the recent cyberattacks and bomb threats are cause for concern.
“Today we are not in a position to say whether these events are all connected,” she said on the sidelines of an event in Verona. “But they certainly tell us the same thing: that civilian infrastructure is under attack.”
Authorities haven’t attributed the threats to any group or state actor, and no evidence has emerged linking the hoaxes to a government. An email containing the threat sent Thursday to airport authorities in Rome and reviewed by The Associated Press purported to come from a group describing itself as anti-feminist and claiming it was targeting a “feminist regime.” Another European airport received a threat with similar wording, but it was unclear if it came from the same sender.
The threats have caused minimal disruption to aviation overall, but airlines must take every threat seriously because they are ultimately responsible for the lives of their passengers, said Robert Jordan, research director at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute think tank.
Jordan 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.”
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 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.
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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