Europe flight disruptions: 20 planes targeted by hoax bomb threats for third day

Rome: Italian, French and Bulgarian fighter jets were scrambled on Thursday as around 20 commercial flights were targeted by hoax bomb threats for a third consecutive day across Europe.

No group claimed responsibility for all the threats. However, messages sent to airports in Rome and Sofia, and seen by AFP, contained misogynistic language and claimed to be from "fighters of the Male State".

A British airport also confirmed receiving a similar hoax threat, which named the group as Men's State.

The threats mainly targeted low-cost carriers and flights to or from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Italy.

Three flights were diverted, but all aircraft landed safely. No explosives were found.

At least five flights received air force escorts after bomb threats.

Bulgaria's air force escorted three Ryanair aircraft heading to Sofia from Madrid, Copenhagen and London. All three planes were inspected, and no explosives were found, an Interior Ministry spokesperson told AFP.

French fighter jets accompanied an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome, forcing it to land at the Evreux military base, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Paris, the French Prime Minister's office said.

"Since the pilot did not cooperate as expected with authorities, the Prime Minister immediately ordered fighter jets to intercept the aircraft and escort it," the office said.

The Aer Lingus pilot had "allegedly refused" to land at the military base, "preferring a civilian airport", Evreux prosecutor Remi Coutin told AFP.

However, the airline told AFP on Thursday evening that "Aer Lingus and its pilots fully cooperated with the French authorities regarding this matter".

Two other flights were diverted.

A Ryanair flight from London to Sofia was diverted to Plovdiv Airport, east of the Bulgarian capital, while a Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw was rerouted to Vienna, the airlines said.

An email sent to multiple addresses at Sofia Airport and seen by AFP claimed that "explosive devices" had been placed on three Ryanair flights heading to Bulgaria.

"You are all accomplices in a criminal conspiracy and for this we want to annihilate you," the message read.

"We, fighters of the Male State, with our actions today will leave a mark in history. Your feminist regime will remember it forever. The explosion will occur in 60 minutes. Today your skies will turn red," it added.

Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera published the same message, but with threats directed at two flights heading to Rome. The emails had been sent to ADR, the company managing Rome's airports. A company source confirmed the report to AFP.

A spokesperson for Birmingham Airport in central England also told AFP it had received a hoax threat targeting flights operating at the airport.

The message "came from Men's State, similar to others", the spokesperson said.

Russia has a far-right movement known as Male State, although AFP could not immediately establish whether it was linked to the threats.

Lou Osborn, founder of Inpact, a non-governmental organisation specialising in monitoring clandestine Russian activities, told AFP that the group uses Nazi symbolism and has "thousands of members".

Russian courts designated the group an extremist organisation in 2021. It later supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"Today we don't know to what extent they are connected to those in power," Osborn said.

Prague Airport spokesperson Denisa Hejtmankova told AFP that the airport had received threatening emails from anonymous addresses.

European Union Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said on X that it was "too early to draw conclusions on whether the reported incidents are linked".

European authorities have warned of a rise in hybrid attacks, some of which have been linked to Russia or Iran.

Most of the flights targeted on Thursday reached their original destinations without incident.

They included a LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw to Brussels, a Wizz Air service from Milan to Bucharest and an Air Serbia flight from Belgrade to Bucharest.

In the Czech Republic, four targeted flights bound for Prague, operated by Ryanair, easyJet and Sky Express, landed safely.

Danish police also confirmed that two threatened aircraft landed in Copenhagen as scheduled.

"Our assessment is that there is no danger, and there has never been any danger, to passengers or anyone else at the airport," Copenhagen police told AFP.

Heathrow Airport also confirmed receiving a threat, but said it had been "deemed not credible".

Travellers at Rome's Fiumicino Airport expressed mixed reactions to the threats.

"It's very concerning, we're very concerned about the security in Europe in general, so it's very fearful to be here," Brazilian traveller Natalia Lobo, 29, told AFP.

French traveller Ella Germain, 20, said the news reports had caused only "a little bit of worry".

Despite the disruption, the targeted flights represented a tiny fraction of Europe's air traffic on Thursday.

Around 25,072 flights were scheduled across the continent, according to Eurocontrol, Europe's aviation safety body.

The latest incidents followed two days of similar threats.

On Tuesday, 10 flights were targeted by bomb threats, all of which turned out to be hoaxes. The alerts forced the closure of an airport in Warsaw and prompted Italian air force jets to escort flights.

On Monday, a Wizz Air flight from London's Luton Airport to Sofia was diverted following a bomb threat and made an emergency landing in Budapest.

Based on the report, the following airports, airlines and routes were affected:

Commercial flights targeted: