Airlines across Europe were forced to divert and ground several passenger flights on Thursday following a wave of bomb threats, marking the second major security disruption across the continent this week.
Among the impacted carriers, an Aer Lingus Airbus A320 travelling from Dublin to Rome turned sharply off course near Paris and landed at the Évreux air base in France.
The French Prime Minister’s office confirmed that all 151 passengers and six crew members landed safely while military bomb disposal units inspected the aircraft. In a separate incident, a Wizz Air flight operating from Milan to Warsaw was diverted to Vienna after receiving a security threat mid-flight.
The wave of disruptions extended into Eastern Europe. Bulgarian authorities reported that a LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw to Paris was intercepted while taxiing, while three additional flights originating from Copenhagen, Madrid, and London were forced to land at Bulgarian airports in Sofia and Plovdiv.
Thursday’s alerts follow a similar surge on Tuesday, when nearly ten flights operated by Ryanair, SAS, and LOT were targeted by hoax bomb threats that briefly closed a Warsaw airport and prompted military jet escorts in Italy.
While ground inspections have so far revealed no explosive hazards, European aviation authorities remain on high alert as investigations continue into the origin of the recurring threats.
