Bomb threats disrupt more than a dozen flights across Europe

On Thursday 5 November 2026 a fresh wave of bomb threats forced more than a dozen passenger flights to divert, land under military escort or undergo intensive checks across Europe, unsettling travellers and prompting coordinated security responses at dozens of airports.

Scope of the disruption

The most high‑profile incident involved an Aer Lingus Airbus A320 en route from Dublin to Rome. After a bomb alert was received, the crew declared an emergency and the aircraft was diverted to the French military airbase at Évreux, some 100 km west of Paris. All 151 passengers and six crew members were moved to a safe area while French bomb‑disposal units inspected the plane. The flight landed safely and the airline later confirmed that it would re‑accommodate customers to their final destination.

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Similar threats hit a Finnair service from Helsinki to Rome, which was escorted by Italian Air Force jets to Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, and another Finnair flight to Vienna that landed without incident after a warning. In Bulgaria, three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia – originating in Copenhagen, Madrid and London Stansted – were forced to land, two in Sofia and one in Plovdiv, under the escort of MiG‑29 fighters.

Polish carrier LOT experienced two separate alerts: a Warsaw‑to‑Brussels flight landed safely after a security warning, and a Warsaw‑to‑Paris flight was halted while taxiing, with passengers transferred to another aircraft as a precaution.

Wizz Air also faced multiple disruptions. A Milan‑to‑Warsaw service was rerouted to Vienna, while a Milan‑to‑Bucharest flight landed at Henri Coandă International Airport in Bucharest, where Romanian intelligence officials oversaw the inspection of the aircraft.

Official responses and expert context

National defence ministries in France, Italy and Bulgaria dispatched fighter jets to escort the threatened aircraft, describing the missions as “detect, identify and escort”. Bulgarian officials stressed that all three planes were inspected and no dangerous objects were found.

European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an email stating it would “continue to monitor developments to identify and assess any potential aviation safety implications arising from such security threats.” Europol’s deputy spokesperson confirmed the agency stood ready to support national authorities if links to organised crime or terrorism emerged.

Cyviation chief executive Eliran Almog warned that the pattern of hoax threats could be part of a broader strategy to undermine confidence in essential services.

"Different essential services are experiencing disruption that carries economic costs and can undermine public confidence."

Eliran Almog, CEO, Cyviation, via The Senior

Air France‑KLM CEO Ben Smith described the coordination of the threats as “unprecedented” and expressed hope that consumer travel would not be deterred.

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Timeline of the week’s alerts

• Monday 5 Nov. A Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Sofia was diverted to Budapest after an email threat.
• Thursday 5 Nov. The wave peaks: Aer Lingus diverted to Évreux, multiple Ryanair, Finnair, LOT, Wizz Air and other carriers face threats; fighter jets scramble in France, Italy and Bulgaria.

Geopolitical backdrop

While no state has claimed responsibility, officials across Denmark, Poland and Romania have publicly suggested possible Russian involvement in “hybrid attacks”, a theme echoed by analysts such as Eric Schouten, head of aviation security group Dyami. He noted in an interview with Straitstimes that “from a geopolitical view… Russia is attacking us on multiple fronts”. Both Russia and Iran have denied any role.

The bomb threats arrived alongside a series of unrelated disruptions: cyber‑attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems, drone incursions and a recent failure at Leipzig airport attributed to a suspected Russian drone strike.

Impact on passengers and airlines

Passengers on the Aer Lingus flight reported panic after the aircraft declared an emergency and circled over the Evreux area before landing. The airline’s statement emphasised that the crew conducted an onboard inspection and that the threat was deemed non‑credible.