Multiple European Flights Report Bomb Threats, Days after String of Similar Alerts
By Sky News
The incidents come days after at least seven flights, including two from the UK, were affected by bomb threats, which caused unplanned landings and temporary airport closures.
Multiple flights travelling to various European destinations have reported bomb alerts, which in some cases caused the planes to be either diverted or escorted by air force units.
An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to Normandy after a bomb alert, the French prime minister’s office said.
The plane landed safely at the Evreux military air base, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s office said, after the aircraft declared an in-flight emergency.
An Aer Lingus Airbus A320 plane diverted to France’s Evreux airbase following a bomb threat. Pic: Reuters
All 151 passengers and six crew members are safe and military bomb defusal teams are examining the plane.
Flight-tracking sites showed that the plane was approaching Paris when it turned sharply off its trajectory and made several loops before heading toward Evreux.
Flightradar24 tracking shows Aer Lingus flight EL402 diverting in France. Pic: Flightradar24
A statement by Aer Lingus said: “Aer Lingus flight EI402 from Dublin to Rome diverted to Normandy this morning as a security precaution.
“The flight landed safely and Aer Lingus will work to reaccommodate customers to their final destination as soon as possible.”
Shortly after the incident was reported, Bulgaria said three aircraft had to carry out emergency landings due to bomb threats, local media reports, citing officials.
Aeroplanes flying from Copenhagen and Madrid landed in Sofia, the interior minister said, according to broadcaster bTV.
A third aircraft, from London, landed in Plovdiv, local media said.
According to Italian news agency Ansa, Italian airforce units safely escorted a Finnair plane, operating a Helsinki-Rome flight, to the Italian capital after it received a bomb alert.
Polish airline LOT said a flight from Warsaw to Brussels had landed safely at its destination after a security warning, and no suspicious items were found.
Czech Republic police reported four flights headed for Prague received bomb threats.
All four planes are now reported to have landed.
Transport secretary reacts to ‘small number’ of disrupted flights
Spanish authorities have said three flights were affected by hoax bomb threats at an airport in Madrid on Thursday morning.
Security forces have ruled out any risk to the aircraft.
Other flights which received a bomb threat on Thursday were a Ryanair one from Porto to Milan, which landed at destination; an Aegean Airlines one from Thessaloniki to Milan which also landed at destination; a Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw, which was diverted to Vienna; a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Vienna which landed at destination; a Wizz Air flight from Milan to Bucharest which landed at destination.
The incidents come days after at least seven flights, including two from the UK, were affected by bomb threats, which caused unplanned landings and temporary airport closures.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander spoke about the incidents on Thursday morning and said: “I am aware a small number of flights across Europe have been disrupted.
“We do have some of the most robust aviation security systems of anywhere in the world, and we have established processes for dealing with hoax and malicious threats, and that’s what these threats have been.”
The Metropolitan Police’s aviation arm will be liaising with the relevant authorities after the incidents, Ms Alexander said, adding: “We do take these threats seriously.”
