More than a dozen European passenger flights received bomb threats on Thursday, days after eight planes were grounded because of hoax warnings. Experts say the incidents are probably a co-ordinated campaign to disrupt air travel across the region.
Police and anti-terror authorities were called to search at least 14 aircraft landing in locations including Italy, Poland, France, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and the Czech Republic. A handful of services were diverted after receiving threats while in mid-air. The number of incidents reported on Thursday is a step up on Tuesday's wave of hoaxes, which saw seven flights grounded, following another on Monday.
Among the affected flights, an Aer Lingus service from Dublin to Rome was diverted to an air base at Évreux in France before being searched. A Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw was diverted to Vienna following a bomb threat. A Ryanair service from Stansted to Sofia was diverted to Plovdiv. A LOT flight from Warsaw to Paris was held for security checks, and the airline said no threat was found. A Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome was escorted by Italian fighter jets after receiving a threat in mid-air. Czech police said they had received threats on four flights heading to Prague, and assessed their relevance as low.
When airlines receive a warning, they direct the plane to land at its destination or a nearby safe airport, where specialist police search the aircraft. The process can take several hours and cause disruption and distress for passengers. Security analysts say the pattern of many threats received hours apart suggests a co-ordinated effort rather than isolated copycat incidents. Matt Borie, who runs Osprey Flight Solutions, said the lack of a clear target airline or route indicates that general disruption to aviation is the aim.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing