Bomb threats divert flights across Europe, including an Aer Lingus jet to Évreux

Threats hit flights in several countries

Bomb threats disrupted air travel across Europe on Thursday, 5 November, forcing some aircraft to change course and make emergency landings. The latest reports count at least 12 European flights targeted by threats, while another report puts the number of flights affected at 15. The threats follow a first wave on Tuesday, 3 November, when at least seven flights and a cruise ship received bomb threats, and no explosive device was found in any of those cases. In Greece, a complaint on Tuesday that an explosive device had been placed on a cruise ship at the port of Syros also turned up nothing.

Aer Lingus jet diverted to Évreux

Aer Lingus flight EI402, an A320 operating from Dublin to Rome, changed course after a bomb threat and landed at the Évreux air base in Normandy, about 100 km west of Paris. Earlier reports said the aircraft had declared an emergency in flight and circled over the area before landing. The aircraft carried 157 people, 151 passengers and six crew. The office of French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said it was monitoring the situation, that bomb disposal units had been deployed to the base and that everyone on board had been moved to a safe location. Aer Lingus said in its own statement that the flight changed course for precautionary safety reasons and landed safely.

Other diversions and landings

Aegean said it was informed of bomb threats on flight A3552 from Thessaloniki to Milan and flight A3860 from Athens to Vienna. Both aircraft landed normally after the company's checks found nothing suspicious. In its statement the airline said:

“The safety of our passengers and crews is and will remain our highest priority.”

Italian fighter jets escorted a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome, which landed at Fiumicino, where explosive ordnance specialists checked the aircraft and found nothing. In the Czech Republic, four flights bound for Prague were threatened with an improvised explosive device, and police checks found no explosives. A Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw was diverted to Vienna, and a LOT flight from Warsaw landed at Brussels after what Belgian media described as a suspicious report.

Bulgaria: three Ryanair flights

Three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia received bomb threats on Thursday morning, which according to BNR arrived by email. Two of the aircraft, which had come from Copenhagen and Madrid, landed at Sofia's Vasil Levski airport, where security checks were under way. A third flight from London was diverted to Plovdiv airport, a move the Transport Ministry confirmed to NOVA. Bulgaria's Interior Ministry confirmed the forced landings and security checks at Bulgarian airports, and the Bulgarian Air Force scrambled MiG-29 jets to escort the flights.

Investigations and open questions

Authorities are investigating the incidents and trying to establish who sent the threats. No group has claimed responsibility, and it is not yet clear whether the threats are connected. Eliran Almog, chief executive of the cybersecurity firm Cyviation, said repeated threats could serve both to disrupt operations and to test how airlines, airports and national authorities respond, adding that the disruption carries economic costs and can undermine public trust. Michelle Robson, a former air traffic controller, told Sky News that the scale of the threats was very unusual and that she had never seen anything like it in her career. She added that some aircraft being grounded showed the threats were being treated as serious. Kathimerini noted that the incidents heighten concerns in Europe about hybrid threats against infrastructure, amid heightened security tensions since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.