More than a dozen European flights face bomb threats

More than a dozen flights across Europe received bomb threats on Thursday, prompting emergency landings and military escorts, according to European authorities. No hazardous or suspicious materials were found in the aircraft, which a British official described as malicious hoaxes. The incidents follow a string of similar threats and disruptions that have affected the continent earlier this week.

Emails sent to airlines and airports contained the threats. A copy reviewed by The Associated Press showed one threat to planes bound for Rome was sent on behalf of a group identifying as anti-feminist. An official at another European airport said they received a threat using similar language from a group with the same name. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information publicly. It is not yet clear if the same group sent all the threats.

In France, an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to a military air base in Evreux. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s office said the base went on high alert after the pilot did not cooperate with authorities as expected. Warplanes intercepted the flight, and military bomb disposal teams examined the plane. Regional prosecutor Remi Coutin stated that the pilot and co-pilot were being questioned.

Italian air force fighter jets escorted a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome after an email threat was received. Finnair confirmed that two of its flights faced unfounded hoax bomb scares. The company said the second flight, operated by Jettime from Helsinki to Vienna, landed safely and would return to service after inspection. Three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia, Bulgaria, also received military escorts. Two landed in Sofia, while a third from London was diverted to Plovdiv, the country’s second-largest city.

Czech police searched four planes that landed in Prague after bomb threats, finding nothing. A LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw to Brussels and a Wizz Air flight from Milan to Bucharest also underwent inspections that turned up no hazardous items. Air Serbia reported that a flight from Belgrade to Bucharest received a hoax threat and resumed regular operations after checks. A flight to Warsaw landed in Vienna after an abstract email threat was sent to Polish authorities.

Philip Baum, a visiting professor of aviation security at Coventry University in England, said each flight disruption could cost airlines up to $250,000. He noted that costs include crews working outside normal hours, replacement crew, and passengers missing connections. Military escort expenses are borne by governments rather than airlines. Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels, said the threats appear designed to sow chaos and uncertainty about the reliability of European air traffic.

European Union Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas told reporters in Dublin that it was too early to determine if the incidents were linked. He said national investigations remain ongoing and that an EU information-sharing mechanism on aviation security has been activated. Britain’s transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, told broadcasters that flights across Europe have been hit by malicious hoax threats.