Bomb threats disrupt more than a dozen flights across Europe
Threats prompted emergency landings, diversions and military escorts on November 5. Officials said no hazardous materials had been found, while investigations continued.
More than a dozen flights across Europe were targeted by bomb threats on Thursday, November 5, prompting emergency landings, diversions and military escorts in some cases, according to the Associated Press. Authorities reported security responses across several countries as airlines and passengers faced disruption.
At least a dozen commercial flights made unscheduled or high-alert landings in Austria, France, Italy, Belgium, Czechia, Spain, Serbia and Bulgaria, Deutsche Welle reported. Some aircraft reached their scheduled destinations under security alerts; others diverted or landed elsewhere. The accounts describe a broad disruption, but the reported totals use differing scopes and do not establish a single reconciled count.
Which flights were diverted or escorted
A Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome landed at its destination with a military escort, while a Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw made an unscheduled landing in Vienna, DW reported. In Bulgaria, three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia were placed under high alert; two landed in Sofia and one diverted to Plovdiv, according to the airline and airport accounts cited by DW.
The incidents affected flights in different ways: some landed at their planned airports amid alerts, while others were diverted or made unscheduled landings, including in Evreux, France, Vienna and Bulgaria. The Associated Press reported that authorities had ordered emergency landings and military escorts in some cases. The measures show how a threat can disrupt air travel even when a plane continues to its scheduled destination.
What officials have confirmed about the threats
No hazardous or suspicious materials had been found in the threats described by a British official as “malicious” hoaxes, the Associated Press reported. DW said preliminary information available at the time of its report showed no dangerous materials reported in Thursday’s incidents. National investigations were continuing, and EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said it was too early to conclude whether the reported cases were linked.
The November 5 incidents followed similar threats earlier in the week. Tuesday’s threats were later found to be hoaxes and also led to diversions and security mobilizations, DW reported. The Associated Press said it was not known who sent this week’s threats or what their aims were, leaving both the source and any connection between the incidents unresolved.
DW also reported that the flight disruptions coincided with apparent cyberattacks affecting supermarket freezer units and French blood banks. It described any connection between those incidents and the aviation threats as unclear; officials had not established a link.
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Sources and context
- More than a dozen flights in Europe receive bomb threats that an official calls 'malicious' hoaxesAssociated Press, republished by PBS NewsHour
- Bomb threats disrupt several flights across EuropeDeutsche Welle
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.