Airlines and airports across Europe faced a fresh wave of bomb threats on Thursday, November 5, prompting flight diversions, emergency landings and security checks, just two days after similar threats targeted around 10 flights across the continent.
An Airbus A320 travelling from Dublin to Rome was diverted to Évreux air base in northern France after a bomb alert, the French prime minister’s office said. France’s air force dispatched aircraft to escort the passenger plane to the airfield west of Paris.
All 151 passengers and six crew members were evacuated safely, while bomb disposal teams began examining the aircraft.
Italy’s ANSA news agency reported bomb alerts involving two flights travelling to Rome and from Milan. A Finnair spokesperson confirmed that a flight from Helsinki to Rome had received a threat but landed safely after being escorted by Italian air force units.
Another Finnair flight from Helsinki, operated by Jettime, received a bomb threat but landed normally in Vienna, the airline said.
A LOT Polish Airlines flight travelling from Warsaw also landed safely at Brussels Airport following a suspicious report. Belgian media reported the incident, citing sources familiar with the matter. Airport representatives said no additional security measures were considered necessary.
Bulgaria also reported three aircraft diversions following bomb threats. Local media, citing government ministers, said two planes, arriving from Copenhagen and Madrid, landed in Sofia. A third aircraft travelling from London landed in Plovdiv.
In the Czech Republic, police initially said four planes heading to Prague had received bomb threats and that officers were preparing for their arrival. No explosives were found during checks of the four aircraft, the CTK news agency reported, citing a police spokesperson.
The latest incidents followed a series of threats on Tuesday that affected around 10 European flights. Those alerts prompted a temporary closure of an airport in Warsaw and the deployment of military aircraft in Rome.
All the planes involved in Tuesday’s incidents took off or landed safely in different European cities, and extensive searches found no explosives.
The repeated threats have raised security concerns for airlines and aviation authorities, although the incidents reported so far have not resulted in confirmed explosive devices being found.
Authorities and airline operators continued to respond to the latest alerts, with aircraft being escorted, diverted or inspected as a precaution. The circumstances behind the threats and whether the incidents are connected were not established in the information available on Thursday.
