Four flights in Europe diverted after bomb hoaxes, one airport briefly shut
Security teams found no explosives on the affected aircraft, which included a Ryanair service departing Manchester.
By Austin Reed ·
Four European flights faced bomb threats on Tuesday, resulting in one airport in Poland closing temporarily. Authorities confirmed that all planes landed safely and that no explosives were found during inspections.
The incidents occurred on the same day as a previous threat involving a Wizz Air flight. On Monday, a Wizz Air plane traveling from London Luton to Sofia was diverted to Budapest after a bomb warning. Hungary's defense minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi stated on Facebook that NATO air defense issued an alert. He said Hungarian Gripen fighter jets took to the air within minutes to ensure the safe landing of the passenger aircraft in Budapest.
On Tuesday, two flights heading to Warsaw were targeted. One was an SAS Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen, and the other was a LOT Polish Airlines flight from London Heathrow. The SAS flight, designated SK751, landed at Warsaw Chopin airport. The airline confirmed a threat had been made against the flight. The airport closed one runway while security teams inspected the plane. No explosives were found, and passengers disembarked normally.
The LOT flight was diverted to Warsaw Modlin airport. Authorities closed the facility following the alert. The Boeing 737 MAX landed safely. Adam Szablowski, a spokesman for Modlin airport, told AFP that passengers were evacuated and the plane underwent security checks. He reported that nothing was found and the airport has reopened and is operating normally.
A third incident involved a Ryanair flight from Manchester in the northwestern UK to Murcia in southeastern Spain. Aena, the Spanish airport operator, confirmed an emergency protocol was activated due to a bomb alert. The flight landed without incident in Murcia. Spain's Civil Guard checked the aircraft and deactivated the emergency plan.
A Wizz Air flight from Bergamo, Italy, was inspected after landing at 9:10 a.m. GMT in Sofia, Bulgaria. A spokesperson for the Bulgarian interior ministry told AFP that the inspection took place following the threat.
This series of events follows a spike in security concerns after a flydubai incident on October 19. A bomb threat forced an Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna to reroute to Bulgaria that day. The surge in hoaxes comes one month after a copilot on an Israel-bound flydubai jet attacked the captain with an axe. The copilot attempted to take control to crash the plane into Ben Gurion Airport. Israeli passengers tackled the Omani copilot after the captain opened the cockpit door. Relief pilots took over the controls and made an emergency landing. New rules announced this week require airlines to submit crew information 48 hours before departure.
The latest alerts added to a busy period for European air traffic control and ground security teams. The flights involved multiple carriers and countries, requiring coordination between airlines, airport operators, and military assets in at least three nations.
