EU transport chief says it is premature to link recent bomb threat hoaxes on European flights
EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said the series of hoax bomb alerts affecting dozens of flights across Europe may not be connected, as authorities continue investigations.
The European Union said on Thursday that it is still unclear whether the recent spate of hoax bomb alerts targeting European flights are linked, and that it is working closely with national authorities on the matter.
EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas posted on X that "any threats against civilians are unacceptable" and added that it was "too early to draw conclusions on whether the reported incidents are linked."
The alerts, which have affected at least 14 flights for the third consecutive day, prompted fighter jets from Italy, France and Bulgaria to escort aircraft. Low-cost carriers were especially targeted, with Ryanair reporting at least seven threatened flights.
A Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome was escorted by an Italian jet and inspected by bomb experts, with the airline confirming that nothing unusual was found. Ryanair flights to Sofia from Madrid, Copenhagen and London-Stansted were also escorted by Bulgarian air force jets; all were later inspected and found to contain no explosives.
Wizz Air rerouted a Milan-Warsaw flight to Vienna and a Milan-Bucharest flight landed safely after a crisis unit was activated at the Romanian airport. An Aer Lingus Dublin-Rome flight was diverted to a French military base before landing safely.
Authorities in the Czech Republic and Denmark said the credibility of the threats was low but that security measures remained in place. The origin and motives behind the threats remain unknown, though they occur amid a broader rise in hybrid attacks across Europe.
The incidents forced the temporary closure of Warsaw’s airport and the deployment of military aircraft to protect flights, highlighting heightened security responses to such hoaxes.