Hoax bomb threats force emergency landings on at least 25 European flights

A series of hoax bomb threats targeting airlines from Ireland to Bulgaria disrupted at least 25 flights on Thursday morning, prompting emergency landings, diversions and security inspections. Spanish authorities received three emailed threats within 20 minutes, affecting two Air Europa departures to Paris and four inbound Iberia flights from Rome and Milan, the Guardia Civil said. Several aircraft were halted, returned to their stands and passengers were disembarked for inspection.

Two EasyJet flights from Britain, one from Ireland and one from Greece landed as scheduled in Prague after threats were deemed low credibility by Czech police. In Bulgaria, three Ryanair-operated flights made emergency landings; two landed in Sofia and a third in Plovdiv, after which airport operations returned to normal following inspections.

Polish carrier LOT reported that a Warsaw-to-Brussels flight landed safely after a security warning, with a spokesperson confirming no suspicious items were found. Aer Lingus diverted its Dublin-to-Rome flight to Evreux airbase near Paris as a precaution, while an Aegean Airlines flight from Thessaloniki and a Ryanair flight from Porto landed without incident at Milan’s Malpensa airport.

Finnair flights from Helsinki to Rome and Vienna were escorted by Italy’s air force and landed normally, according to airline sources.

The incidents follow earlier threats earlier in the week that affected seven flights and a cruise ship, as well as unrelated drone incursions and cyber-attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems. Eliran Almog, CEO of aviation-cybersecurity firm Cyviation, said the repeated threats appear intended to test airline and airport response procedures and noted that simultaneous disruptions to essential services could have economic impacts and affect public confidence.