Bomb threats divert jets across Europe

An Aer Lingus Airbus A320 at Dublin Airport in December 2019. File photograph. Anna Zvereva / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Bomb threats disrupted passenger flights across Europe on Thursday, prompting diversions, military escorts and aircraft searches as authorities investigated alerts involving several airlines and countries.

Security inspections had not uncovered explosives in the incidents checked so far. Investigators had also not identified those responsible or established whether the threats came from a common source. Some aircraft reached their scheduled destinations before undergoing searches, while others changed course.

Reporting from Heathrow Airport for Al Jazeera English, correspondent Frances Read said the number of affected flights had risen to about 18 during the broadcast. She stressed that the figure continued to change as information emerged from different countries.

The alerts involved routes connecting Ireland, Britain, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Poland, Belgium, Finland, Austria and the Czech Republic. Authorities responded through separate national security procedures, with police, airport personnel and military units taking part.

One of the diversions involved Aer Lingus flight EI402, which departed Dublin for Rome but landed at the Évreux military airbase in France after a bomb threat.

The Airbus A320 carried 151 passengers and six crew members. French authorities moved all 157 occupants to safety and deployed military bomb-disposal specialists to examine the aircraft. French military aircraft also escorted the passenger jet during the diversion.

Aer Lingus described the diversion as a security precaution and said it was working on arrangements for passengers to continue their journeys. The unexpected landing left the Rome-bound travellers awaiting clearance and onward travel arrangements.

In Bulgaria, three Ryanair services originating in Copenhagen, Madrid and London Stansted received threats. The Copenhagen and Madrid flights landed in Sofia, while the Stansted service landed in Plovdiv. Security teams inspected the aircraft as authorities assessed the alerts.

Czech police separately reported threats against four aircraft heading to Prague. Officers carried out security checks, and the searches found no explosives. The incidents nevertheless required police attention and additional precautions for the affected arrivals.

Several routes serving Italy also featured in the disruption. Al Jazeera reported alerts involving two Milan-bound flights from Greece and Portugal, alongside Wizz Air services operating from Milan to Bucharest and Warsaw.

The Milan–Warsaw aircraft diverted to Vienna. The Bucharest-bound service received an alert during its final approach and landed safely at its intended destination, where authorities activated security procedures.

A Finnair service from Helsinki to Rome received an Italian military escort before landing. Another Helsinki departure, bound for Vienna and operated by Jettime, also landed safely following a threat. The incidents illustrated how authorities handled some alerts without redirecting aircraft away from their planned destinations.

Read also identified a LOT Polish Airlines service travelling from Warsaw to Brussels among the affected flights. Her report described a geographically dispersed series of alerts rather than a disruption confined to one airport or carrier.

An airport official featured in the broadcast explained that staff would remove passengers from an affected aircraft and conduct security checks before allowing the journey to resume.

“We will disembark the passengers and screen them. The aircraft will also be inspected by border police officers with sniffer dogs.”

The official said the procedure would include screening travellers and examining the aircraft. Passengers would return on board only after the searches gave authorities grounds to clear the flight.

Read said some threats arrived by email and that air traffic controllers relayed alerts to flight crews. She added that passengers might not learn about a threat until after landing, as crews first concentrated on bringing the aircraft down safely.

Despite the incidents elsewhere, she reported that flights continued to arrive and depart normally at Heathrow during her live update. The widespread alerts therefore did not amount to a general closure of European airspace.

The latest incidents followed threats against several flights earlier in the week. Al Jazeera reported that seven aircraft had faced hoax alerts two days before Thursday’s disruption, adding to concerns about repeated interference with passenger journeys.

European Union transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas urged caution over suggestions that the incidents formed a coordinated campaign.

“It is still too early to draw conclusions about a possible link between the reported incidents,” he said in a statement reported by LaPresse.

Tzitzikostas said national authorities should investigate the threats and work closely with airlines, airport operators and law-enforcement agencies. He added that the European Commission was monitoring developments alongside the European Aviation Safety Agency.

Although the alerts came amid wider European concerns about aviation security and drone incursions, the available information did not establish responsibility for the flight threats. Read emphasised that officials had not identified Russia or any other actor as the source.

Investigations remained under way, with authorities seeking to determine where the warnings originated and whether any connection existed between them.