Multiple flights to European airports targeted by bomb threats
Polish authorities inspected two passenger planes targeted by bomb threats on Tuesday but found no explosives, as a series of threats disrupted operations at airports across Europe.
A bomb alert forced a LOT flight from London's Heathrow to make an unscheduled landing at Warsaw-Modlin airport, prompting the airport to shut down. Operations resumed around midday after the passengers were evacuated and the plane underwent security checks.
"The passengers were evacuated and the plane underwent security checks. Nothing was found," airport spokesman Adam Szablowski told the French AFP news agency.
A SAS Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen also received a bomb threat before landing safely at Warsaw's central Chopin airport, where it underwent a security inspection. No explosives were found on either plane.
Threats spread to Spain, Bulgaria, Italy
Also on Tuesday, a Ryanair flight from Manchester, UK, to Murcia, Spain, was hit by a bomb threat. It landed safely and underwent checks after all the passengers had disembarked.
In the fourth incident, a flight from Israel landed in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, after a bomb threat was received via email. Counter-terrorism units were checking the plane for possible explosive devices.
Later, two more bomb threats also targeted Ryanair flights from Lisbon and Dublin to Rome’s Fiumicino airport, according to Italian media. Air Force jets were deployed as a result, but both threats turned out to be false alarms.
False alarms in recent weeks
The six threats on Tuesday come after a WizzAir flight from London to Sofia was redirected to the Hungarian capital, Budapest, on Monday after it received a bomb threat mid-air.
Similar incidents have been reported across different European airports in recent weeks, with alerts later turning out to be false.
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