Airlines divert flights after coordinated fake bomb alerts hit Europe

False bomb threats disrupted air travel across Europe on Tuesday, forcing airlines to divert aircraft and ground crews to search planes that contained no explosives.

The incidents involved multiple carriers, including Ryanair, Polish airline LOT, Scandinavian Airlines, and Wizz Air. No passengers or crew members were injured in any of the events.

The latest wave of threats followed a similar incident the previous day. A Wizz Air flight departing Luton airport near London was diverted to Hungary after receiving a warning in the air. Hungarian Defense Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi confirmed that a Gripen fighter jet escorted the plane to Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest. Inspectors found no threat aboard that aircraft.

In Italy, two Ryanair flights faced security protocols at Rome’s Fiumicino airport. One plane arriving from Lisbon landed after receiving an email claiming a bomb was on board. Another flight from Dublin was escorted by the Italian Air Force to the same airport. Officials stated that bomb disposal experts checked all passengers, crew, and baggage on both flights. Neither search turned up any explosives.

Poland handled two separate alerts in the capital. A LOT flight from London’s Heathrow airport to Warsaw’s Chopin airport was diverted to Modlin airport. The Modlin facility closed temporarily while the search was conducted. The airline later confirmed that nothing was found on the aircraft. Passengers were then transported by coach to Chopin Airport. Separately, a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen landed at Chopin after reports of a potentially dangerous item. Acting Director Piotr Rudzki said standard safety procedures were implemented and one runway was closed. SAS spokeswoman Alexandra Lindgren Kaokju stated that passengers disembarked and the plane landed normally.

In southern Spain, a Ryanair plane from Manchester landed in Murcia after a threat was reported. Francisco Lucas, the Spanish government’s delegate in the Murcia region, said officials ruled out explosives after inspecting the aircraft and checking the 121 people on board.

Bulgarian authorities inspected two planes at Sofia International Airport that received threats while en route from Italy and Ireland. Minister of Transportation Georgi Peev said counter-terrorism officers found no signs of explosives. He noted that the initial information for one threat came from a pilot who had received the alert through airline channels.

Bulgaria’s acting Interior Ministry Secretary General Lyubomir Nikolov told reporters on Tuesday that authorities were still working to identify the sender of the threats. This follows an emergency landing in Bulgaria last month for a flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna.