Alleged bomb threats disrupt several European airline flights on Tuesday
Multiple flights from airlines including Ryanair and LOT were diverted or searched after hoax threats were reported across the continent.
Several flights across Europe received alleged bomb threats on Tuesday that turned out to be hoaxes, according to the New York Post. The incidents prompted searches, diversions, and an escort by the Air Force for a plane flying from Dublin to Rome Fiumicino airport.
Impacted airlines included Polish airline LOT, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), Wizz Air, and Ryanair. In Poland, a LOT flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to Warsaw’s Chopin Airport was diverted to Modlin Airport, where the airport was temporarily closed. LOT said nothing was found on the aircraft after a search.
A SAS flight from Copenhagen to Chopin Airport also reported a potentially dangerous item on board. SAS spokesperson Alexandra Lindgren Kaoukji told PAP that passengers disembarked and the plane landed normally, though the matter was referred to the Polish police.
In Spain, Francisco Lucas, the government’s delegate in the Murcia region, said no explosives were found on a Ryanair flight from Manchester that landed at Murcia Airport. Bulgarian Minister of Transportation Georgi Peev said no explosives were found on two aircraft at Sofia International Airport that received threats while en route.
Matthew Borie, co-founder and chief intelligence officer of Osprey Flight Solutions, said the incidents could be caused by a single threat triggering copycats, an individual or group making multiple threats, or hybrid warfare by state actors. Borie noted there could be a Russian or Iranian angle to such threats.
Bulgaria’s acting Interior Ministry Secretary General Lyubomir Nikolov said authorities are still trying to identify the sender of the threat. Meanwhile, Greek authorities are investigating a threat against the cruise ship Crown Iris in the port of Syros, which was being evacuated as a precaution.