Key takeaways:
- Aer Lingus flight EI402 diverted to a French military airfield with 151 passengers and six crew aboard; all were moved to safety.
- Two Finnair flights from Helsinki received bomb threats and landed in Rome and Vienna, while Czech police received threats concerning four Prague-bound planes.
- The incidents followed earlier flight threats that prompted searches and briefly closed an airport outside Warsaw; no explosive devices were found in those earlier cases.
A flight from Dublin to Rome diverted to a French military airfield Thursday after a suspected bomb threat, as similar warnings disrupted flights across Europe. No explosives have been found in the incidents reported so far.
Aer Lingus flight EI402 was carrying 151 passengers and six crew when it was diverted to the Évreux-Fauville Air and Space Force base west of Paris, according to the airline and French authorities. France’s air force said it dispatched aircraft “as soon as the threat was reported” and escorted the plane to the airfield.
A bomb squad was sent to the base, and everyone aboard was moved to safety, the office of French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said. Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed the aircraft turning near Paris and circling over the Évreux area after declaring an in-flight emergency, Al Jazeera reported.
The warnings also affected flights from Helsinki. A Finnair flight to Rome was escorted by Italian Air Force jets to Fiumicino Airport “following anonymous reports of a suspected bomb threat,” a spokesperson for the airport authority said. Police bomb disposal experts began safety checks, the spokesperson said. Finnair said the flight landed as normal after receiving a bomb threat.
A second Finnair flight from Helsinki landed as normal in Vienna after receiving a bomb threat, the carrier said.
Elsewhere, Czech police said they had received threats claiming improvised explosive devices had been placed on four planes heading to Prague. Bulgarian media reported that three aircraft requested emergency landings because of bomb threats Thursday, according to Al Jazeera. Reuters, cited by NBC News, reported that Bulgarian media said the three aircraft had been forced to make emergency landings, citing government ministers.
Belgian media reported that an airliner forced to land at Brussels’ Zaventem airport belonged to Polish airline LOT, Reuters reported, according to NBC News. Authorities have not indicated whether the threats to the different flights are connected.
Thursday’s disruptions followed a series of bomb threats against European flights earlier in the week. Those warnings prompted diversions and searches, briefly closed an airport outside Warsaw and led the Italian Air Force to escort a Ryanair plane into Rome on Tuesday. Authorities in the countries involved said no explosive devices were found in the earlier incidents.
A separate security operation began Tuesday at the Greek island port of Syros after a threat against the Panama-flagged Crown Iris, a cruise ship bound for Haifa. Authorities said an unknown person claimed an explosive device had been attached to its hull.
Officials have not identified who was behind the threats, and no one has claimed responsibility.
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