European airspace was disrupted again on Thursday after hoax bomb threats targeted at least 27 passenger flights, according to Reuters. The alerts forced unplanned landings, airport searches and military escorts across the continent.
The threats stretched from Ireland in the west to Bulgaria in the east and were the second large wave of the week. Counts varied between news organisations as airlines and officials updated their figures through the day. Every account agreed that inspections found no explosives and no other hazardous material.
Fighter jets scrambled over France, Italy and Bulgaria
The most dramatic incident played out over France. The office of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said he ordered fighter jets to intercept an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome and escort it to the Évreux air base. The office said the pilot had not cooperated with the authorities as expected, which prompted the order.
Italian air force jets accompanied a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome after an emailed threat, according to an airport official with knowledge of the situation. A Wizz Air aircraft flying from Milan to Warsaw was rerouted to Vienna. Bulgarian jets also took to the air. Greece’s Aegean Airlines said two of its services had received threats that proved false: one from Thessaloniki to Milan and another from Athens to Vienna.
Reuters reported that flights serving Milan, Rome, Paris, Prague and Sofia were among those affected.
A week of repeated alerts
Thursday’s incidents followed earlier warnings. On Monday, a Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Sofia was diverted to Budapest after a threat. Hungarian Gripen fighters were launched within minutes to see the aircraft down safely. Further alerts earlier in the week led to the closure of Warsaw’s airport.
Britain’s Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, told broadcasters that flights across Europe had been hit by “malicious hoax threats”. Her comments reflected a growing view among officials that the messages were designed to cause disruption rather than to carry out an attack.
Who is behind the threats?
No one has been publicly identified. The EU’s transport chief said it was too early to say whether the cases were connected, and investigations are continuing.
Some reporting has pointed to a possible link with Russian intelligence activity. None of the officials quoted in other coverage has confirmed a source, so that remains unverified. Investigators will be looking at how the threats were delivered, including whether copycat messages were involved, which authorities have said is possible.
Limited risk, real disruption
Europe’s air traffic network is large, and the affected flights were a small share of the day’s movements. Eurocontrol, the continent’s air safety body, said about 25,000 flights were scheduled across Europe on Thursday.
Eoghan Corry, editor of Travel Extra, told Euronews the episode looked like an exercise in “weaponising disruption”. He said the greater damage came from the uneven reactions of airports and airlines. Each follows its own protocols, and a blanket set of threats produced very different responses on the ground.
Corry also stressed how rare real attacks on European aviation are. He noted that no bomb has been successfully smuggled onto a commercial aircraft in Europe since the Lockerbie bombing of 1988. That history is why he considers the chance of a genuine device reaching a plane very small.
Why the response still matters
Even false alarms carry a cost. Aircraft diverted to alternative airports must be searched, passengers are delayed and crews can exceed their working hours. Air forces must also deploy expensive military assets, and airports may suspend operations while checks are carried out.
There is also a security question. If a single message can send fighter jets into the air in several countries within hours, authorities will want to understand how, and whether, the response can be better coordinated. The case for a common European protocol for handling such threats is likely to be raised in the days ahead.
What passengers should do
Travellers should check their airline’s app before leaving for the airport and allow extra time. Under EU passenger rules, people whose flights are diverted or cancelled are generally entitled to assistance and rerouting. Compensation is less likely when a security threat is the cause.
Authorities have not announced any change to security levels at European airports. Investigators across several countries are expected to compare the messages received this week to establish whether a single party is responsible.
