Europe hit by fresh wave of bomb threats targeting flights and media outlets
Israel-bound KLM service among those affected; Irish radio host says staff were told to evacuate after receiving ‘a message’
Officials across Europe reported a fresh slew of bomb threats against multiple flights on Friday, following a string of hoaxes that have caused flight diversions this week. Two broadcasters also received security threats.
No suspicious items were found, and no one was injured, but the threats have raised concern because they came as Europe digests other recent disruptions — including attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems and drone incursions.
In Hungary, the defense minister said military fighter jets escorted three separate passenger planes across the country’s airspace within an hour after each received bomb threats. Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said they were flights from Brussels to Sofia and from Prague to Cyprus and Romania.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s office said Friday that “four new bomb threats were made today against aircraft flying over French territory.” The planes landed safely at Paris’ Orly Airport, and bomb disposal experts were conducting inspections. The office didn’t give details of the flights affected.
Other incidents included threats against a Prague-to-Bucharest flight operated by Romanian carrier Tarom, and a Ryanair flight traveling from Lisbon to Rome. Security inspections were carried out, and no explosives were found.
A WizzAir flight from Prague to Rome was diverted to Venice after a bomb alert, and passengers were evacuated after the aircraft landed. Air traffic at the airport was briefly suspended, but police searches turned up nothing.
At Prague’s Václav Havel Airport, spokesperson Denisa Hejtmánková said a total of nine flights were threatened, including arriving flights from Denmark, Spain and Britain, and departing flights to the Netherlands, Cyprus, Romania, Italy and Britain. Czech police said security measures were taken that had “a minimal impact on the normal operations at the airport.”
In the Danish capital, Copenhagen, police said Friday they went to the airport for a second consecutive day “in connection with threats directed at air traffic” as a precautionary measure. They said they assessed that there had been no danger to passengers or to others at the airport.
At least 27 flights were targeted on Thursday alone, forcing several aircraft to divert and prompting fighter jets to escort or intercept others.
Authorities have not established who is behind the wave of hoaxes or linked them to any state. Some of the threatening messages have purported to come from a group calling itself the “Male State,” the name of a far-right Russian movement, while others contained misogynistic language. AFP said it had not verified any connection between the group and the threats.
Irish government sees possible coordinated campaign
The disruption spread beyond aviation on Friday, when several Irish media organizations received bomb threats. Ireland’s government said the hoaxes were “likely” part of a “coordinated campaign of disruption,” while stressing that authorities had not determined whether they were the work of individuals or a centralized operation.
The Irish government confirmed police responded after national broadcaster RTE, Virgin Media, Newstalk radio and The Irish Independent newspaper all received what turned out to be hoax bomb claims.
“It is not known yet who is responsible for these threats, whether it is individuals or a centralised or coordinated effort,” it said in a statement.
“However, these threats come on the heels of the ongoing disruption to aviation around Europe caused by similar threats, and it seems likely that this is a co-ordinated campaign of disruption.”
It added that “the threats made this morning against media organizations here are very serious.”
“Hoax threats such as these cause fear, distress and disruption to people going about their daily lives and activities; they achieve no positive purpose whatsoever,” the statement said.
It noted police were working alongside Ireland’s military, cyber and aviation authorities, as well as European counterparts, to find the culprits.
“Every effort will be made to identify those responsible and to hold them to account,” the government vowed.
Police were promptly deployed to RTE’s Dublin headquarters and the other sites targeted following the threats, the outlets reported.
Newstalk radio host Claire Byrne said after returning to air that staff there had been advised to leave their building following “a message that we received.”
“We’ve been advised that we could return to the building and that that warning was a hoax,” she added.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said the threats to RTE and others “just illustrates how relatively simple it can be to cause disruption and to undermine the normal operation of society through unconventional activities of this kind, which are designed to cause fear and anxiety.”
He said there would be a “very significant security operation” in place next week when Dublin hosts meetings of the European Political Community and European Union leaders.
Israel-bound flight also caught up in threats
An Israel-bound KLM flight was among those affected on Thursday. The Amsterdam-to-Tel Aviv service landed in Bucharest for a scheduled technical stop, after which authorities received a bomb threat and began security checks around the aircraft. Romania’s intelligence service said the pilots requested a pyrotechnic inspection.
The incident was not the first recent bomb scare involving travel to or from Israel. On October 18, an Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna carrying 57 people was forced to divert to Sofia following a bomb threat. Bulgarian fighter jets escorted the aircraft, but searches of the plane, passengers and crew found nothing dangerous, and the flight later continued to Vienna.
An Israeli-operated cruise ship was also targeted this week. On Tuesday, the Crown Iris was held at the Greek island of Syros after an unknown person claimed an explosive had been attached to the vessel’s hull. Its 940 passengers and 597 crew members were evacuated while authorities searched the ship, which had been due to return to Haifa. No suspicious device was found, and those onboard were later allowed to return.