21 planes targeted as bomb threats spark fresh aviation scare across Europe

International

A SECOND wave of bomb threats in less than a week has disrupted air travel across Europe, with at least 21 aircraft and several airports targeted by warnings that authorities have so far treated as security threats.

According to a BBC report, the incidents on Thursday triggered flight diversions, fighter jet escorts and emergency security inspections across eight countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland and Romania.

The UK government described the warnings as a “malicious hoax”, while searches found no explosives or hazardous items.

An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to a military air base in Normandy, France, while an incoming Finnair service was escorted to Rome by Italian fighter jets. EasyJet said police met its flights from Newcastle and Glasgow upon arrival in Prague as a precaution.

London Heathrow and Birmingham airports also received threats, both of which were assessed as not credible.

Airport operator Aeroporti di Roma confirmed that threats involving two inbound flights to the Italian capital were sent by email. The messages were signed by a group or individual identifying themselves as “Fighters of the Male State”, who claimed to be targeting a “feminist regime” and threatened to “turn the skies red” with explosions.

The name appears to refer to “Muzhskoi Legion” (“Male Legion”), a Russian ultra-right group banned by a Moscow court in 2021. However, the authenticity of the messages and their connection to the wider incidents remain unclear.

UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said authorities were taking the threats seriously and had established procedures for handling malicious warnings. Heathrow said its threat was not credible, while Birmingham Airport confirmed that security procedures were activated with emergency services.

Other affected flights included two Wizz Air services from Milan, bound for Warsaw and Bucharest; two LOT flights from Warsaw to Brussels and Paris; and Aegean Airlines services from Thessaloniki to Milan and Athens to Vienna. Ryanair, Iberia and Air Serbia also reported affected flights. No explosives were found during the reported inspections.

Emily Noble, a passenger on the diverted Aer Lingus flight, told BBC Verify that passengers were initially informed of a technical problem before the pilot announced a security issue.

On board it was “an odd experience,” Noble said.

Passengers remained at the French air base for two-and-a-half hours while police and military personnel conducted checks, including searches with sniffer dogs.

Aviation security professor Philip Baum warned that repeated hoax threats could breed complacency, potentially causing a genuine warning to be overlooked.

Kingston University aviation expert Marco Chan said the threats were “most likely a hoax, but the system is right to treat it as real”.

The latest incidents follow bomb threats affecting seven European flights two days earlier, while a Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Sofia was escorted to Budapest by a Hungarian fighter jet on Monday. Authorities have yet to establish whether the incidents are connected.(MyTVCebu)