Wave of bomb threats affects European commercial flights

The Ryanair aircraft landed at Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport on 6 November after the flight operating from Rome was subject to a bomb alert. Aeroflap reported that the aircraft was inspected after landing and that authorities found no bomb or other object considered a threat.

Fresh threats were reported that day in Denmark, the Czech Republic, France, Italy and Portugal, according to Aviation24.be. Danish police were investigating threats directed at air traffic at Copenhagen Airport, while the airport continued operating normally, the publication reported.

In Prague, Aviation24.be reported that the alerts involved four arriving and five departing flights. The same report said no explosives were found and that the alerts did not directly result in cancellations or diversions. A Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome was later diverted to Venice, where it landed safely, although the supplied reporting does not establish that the diversion was directly caused by the threats.

The incidents followed other reports of threats involving European commercial aviation during the week. One Mile at a Time reported that more than 50 flights departing from roughly a dozen countries had received bomb threats. The publication said none of the threats had been found credible, a claim that is not independently confirmed in the supplied reporting.

Aviation24.be reported that no explosives had been found in the aircraft inspected so far and that no injuries had been reported. The report also described earlier disruption, including diversions and fighter-jet escorts involving commercial aircraft, but the supplied material does not establish a single total for all affected flights or countries.

Aeroflap reported that the European Commission activated an aviation-security information-sharing mechanism among EU member states. The publication also said that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency assessed the alerts as posing a reduced threat to commercial aviation security, while responsibility for assessing each incident and taking measures remained with national authorities in coordination with airports, airlines and security forces.

The sender of the threats has not been established, and the supplied sources do not determine whether all of the incidents formed one coordinated operation. That leaves the confirmed picture limited to a series of reported threats, investigations and security responses across European aviation, rather than an established account of who was responsible or how the incidents were connected.