Two flights from London and Brussels land in Sofia after bomb threats

Dubai: Two passenger aircraft arriving from London and Brussels landed safely at Sofia Airport on Friday, November 6, after authorities received emailed bomb threats, Bulgaria's Ministry of Transport and Communications confirmed.

Border police teams inspected both aircraft at Vasil Levski Sofia Airport but found no explosives or suspicious items. Both flights landed without incident, Bulgarian National Radio reported. 

The latest threats came during a wave of security alerts across Bulgaria and other European countries, disrupting air travel and prompting emergency inspections, flight diversions and military escorts.

On Thursday, three Ryanair flights travelling to Bulgaria from Copenhagen, Madrid and London received bomb threats, prompting Bulgarian authorities to deploy MiG-29 fighter jets to escort the aircraft.

The flights from Copenhagen and Madrid landed in Sofia, while the London flight was diverted to Plovdiv Airport. Subsequent searches found no explosive devices. 

Earlier in the week, Bulgarian authorities also received anonymous bomb threats targeting government institutions, courts and passenger aircraft.

Lyubomir Nikolov, acting Secretary General of Bulgaria's Interior Ministry, confirmed on Tuesday that an emailed threat had been received concerning an aircraft arriving at Sofia Airport, prompting specialist counterterrorism officers to conduct security checks.

Nikolov explained that investigators were still working to identify those responsible for the earlier threats.

He noted that, in previous cases, authorities had traced threatening emails to internet protocol addresses located in other European countries.

The official expressed concern that airlines were increasingly being targeted, forcing aircraft to change course and requiring emergency security measures.