A wave of bomb threats caused widespread disruption across European airspace on Tuesday, forcing eight passenger jets to make emergency landings within a 24-hour period. The hoax calls led to planes being grounded in Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, and Poland.
Two aircraft departing from the UK were among those affected. A LOT Polish Airlines flight from London Heathrow to Warsaw, carrying 181 people including Jewish schoolchildren on a Holocaust education trip, was diverted to Warsaw-Modlin Airport. Passengers were evacuated, and security forces later confirmed no explosives were found on board.
Another flight, a Ryanair service from Manchester to Murcia in southern Spain, was also subjected to a bomb threat. Upon landing, the plane was met by police and bomb disposal teams. Passengers reported being unaware of the threat until after the aircraft had landed and they were asked to evacuate.
Similar incidents occurred at Rome's Fiumicino Airport, where two Ryanair flights – one from Lisbon and another from Dublin – were searched following anonymous bomb scares. Both aircraft were escorted by Italian fighter jets until landing, but no explosives were discovered.
Two additional flights bound for Sofia, Bulgaria, also received threats. A Wizz Air jet from Bergamo, Italy, and a Ryanair plane from Dublin landed safely and were also cleared of any explosive devices.
The series of incidents prompted British officials to label the threats as "malicious hoaxes." A government spokesperson stated that the UK possesses robust aviation security systems designed to handle such threats.
These events follow a similar incident on Monday, where a Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Bulgaria was threatened and required an escort by a Hungarian fighter jet.
The heightened tensions come amid ongoing geopolitical tensions, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reporting that his country's security forces had thwarted an attempted provocation on its border with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. Tusk warned of potential Russian hybrid warfare and sabotage acts orchestrated by hostile services, though the Kremlin has denied such accusations.