Politics1 min read

New wave of bomb threats hit European airlines

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Recent alerts impacted flights linked to Lisbon, Rome, Prague, and Sofia, prompting Hungarian military aircraft to escort three passenger planes. Authorities in France, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria documented over a dozen impacted flights, adding to dozens of aircraft disrupted earlier in the week. Meanwhile, news outlets in Dublin and the UK were forced to evacuate offices amid matching security warnings.

Key points

  • Extensive searches have confirmed that no explosives were found on any targeted aircraft.: Extensive searches have confirmed that no explosives were found on any targeted aircraft.
  • Investigators have not established a concrete link between the aviation threats and media…: Investigators have not established a concrete link between the aviation threats and media evacuations.
  • A Russian extremist group named in Italian airport threats denied involvement through an…: A Russian extremist group named in Italian airport threats denied involvement through an affiliated account.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

- Published

European airlines have again been hit with a new wave of bomb threats - in the third such incident this week.

On Friday multiple flights to and from Lisbon, Rome, Prague and Sofia were targeted and the threats saw three planes escorted by Hungarian fighter jets, authorities said.

It also saw a number of high-profile media organisations, including Ireland's public broadcaster RTÉ, evacuated after threats were made against them - although there has been no concrete links between the messages against airlines and the broadcasters yet.

The disruption comes after nearly 30 aircraft and several airports across Europe were impacted by bomb threats earlier this week, in what the UK called a "malicious hoax".

A Ryanair flight scheduled to leave Lisbon for Rome on Friday was targeted with a threat, the airline said, while at least 11 flights were targeted in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, according to AFP.

France also reported at least four of its flights were targeted by threats, however they all landed safely.

No explosives have been found on any planes as of Friday.

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