The most striking case was the Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome. The Airbus A320 declared an in-flight emergency and was diverted to the Évreux air base, west of Paris, escorted by French military aircraft. The French air force said it sent its planes as soon as the threat was reported. The office of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu confirmed that a bomb disposal team was waiting on the ground and that the 151 passengers and six crew members were brought to safety.
In Bulgaria, three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia from Madrid, Copenhagen and London requested emergency landings. Bulgarian MiG-29 fighters accompanied them through the country's airspace. The first two landed in the capital and the third was diverted to Plovdiv. Subsequent inspections found nothing unusual.
The Czech Republic was also affected. Police checked four aircraft heading for Prague, including two easyJet planes from Glasgow and Newcastle, with negative results. The National Centre against Terrorism, Extremism and Cybercrime has taken over the investigation. A Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw landed in Vienna after being diverted over a hoax threat, as did a Finnair aircraft from Helsinki. Another plane of the Finnish airline, bound for Rome, was escorted by an Italian fighter and checked by bomb disposal experts on arrival. In Brussels, a LOT flight from Warsaw landed without incident after a security warning.
The question on everyone's mind is who is behind this campaign and whether the incidents are connected. So far no one has claimed the threats and the authorities are avoiding pointing fingers. The European Commissioner for Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, called threats against civilians unacceptable and said the Commission is in contact with the countries affected. Brussels has activated an aviation security information-sharing mechanism, although Tzitzikostas warned that it is still too early to determine whether all the incidents are related.
Suspicion of a coordinated action is nonetheless growing. Ben Smith, chief executive of Air France-KLM, acknowledged that he does not believe the industry has seen anything happen in such a coordinated way before. The geopolitical context adds to the unease, after months marked by cyberattacks and drone incursions in Europe, although there is no evidence linking these threats to those episodes.
Eurocontrol has said it is following the situation closely and working hand in hand with airlines, airports and air navigation service providers. More than 30,000 flights cross European skies every day, and bomb threats are rare and almost always false. Even so, their capacity to disrupt operations is enormous.
For tourism, the challenge goes beyond delays and diversions. Every alert means hours of waiting for hundreds of travellers, added costs for airlines and an emotional toll that does not vanish on landing. The speed and coordination of the authorities have prevented worse outcomes, but the industry knows that passenger peace of mind is fragile, and that the best response is to identify those responsible as quickly as possible.
