Europe Bomb Threats Hit Flights for Third Time in a Week

Europe bomb threats disrupted flights across the continent for the third time this week, forcing diversions and fighter-jet escorts as Spain warned of “hybrid aggression”.

Hoax threats hit dozens of passenger flights across Europe on Thursday, forcing unplanned landings by some planes and prompting fighter jets to escort or intercept others. The disruption marked a sharp escalation after an initial wave of threats on Tuesday.

No explosive devices have been found, and all planes have landed safely.

Europe bomb threats spread across Denmark, Prague, France and Italy

Danish police said on Friday they were investigating threats directed at air traffic at Copenhagen airport. Their immediate assessment was that passengers faced no danger, and the airport said it was operating normally.

Czech police said they had registered bomb threats to flights departing from and arriving in Prague. An airport spokesperson said the threats concerned four inbound and five outbound flights. No explosives were found, and no flights were cancelled or diverted.

Shortly afterwards, an Italian airport authority source said a Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome had been diverted to Venice. It landed there safely.

The French prime minister’s office said four new bomb threats had been made to aircraft flying over French territory. All of them landed safely.

A bomb alert on a Ryanair flight from Rome to Lisbon prompted a security operation when it landed, CNN Portugal reported.

Hallmarks of a coordinated ‘hybrid’ attack

Security experts said on Thursday that the threats bore the hallmarks of a coordinated “hybrid attack”. They added that it was still possible that individuals were issuing copycat threats or acting on personal grievances.

No country has blamed any party for the threats. Even so, they follow a wave of sabotage attacks and attempts on targets across Europe. Those range from German electricity substations to defence-related facilities in the Baltic region, supermarket refrigerators in France and elsewhere, and Leipzig airport in Germany.

Many officials have linked the campaign to Europe’s support for Ukraine in its war against Russia’s invasion. They accuse Moscow of a campaign of “hybrid” disruption that is cheap to run, easy to deny, and unlikely to trigger an armed response.

Spain warns of psychological warfare

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares told the national broadcaster TVE that it would take time to establish exactly what had happened. Even so, he said the pattern spoke for itself.

“It cannot be mere coincidence that so many incidents with exactly the same modus operandi are happening across Europe,” he said.

“The most reasonable assumption is that we are facing an attempt at hybrid aggression and a form of psychological warfare,” he added. Europe must be prepared for more such challenges, he said.

On Thursday, an airport source in Italy said bomb threats had been sent to several airlines and airport operators in Rome and Milan. The messages claimed to be from “fighters of the Male State”.

Reuters said it could not independently confirm who had sent the email, and there was no immediate sign of who was behind the other threats across Europe.

Vladislav Pozdnyakov, a Russian blogger who set up an anti-feminist movement called the Male State in 2016, said the group no longer existed and was not involved in any way. The movement was later banned in Russia.

What happens next

Airports and police across Europe are treating each threat as genuine until checks are complete, even though every alert so far has proved false. The cost is measured in delays, diversions and fighter-jet scrambles, not casualties.

Investigators have yet to name a source. Until they do, European governments face a threat that is cheap to mount, hard to trace and easy to repeat.

Europe’s security troubles have drawn wide attention this week. Feature Pakistan has also reported on protests in France that left 448 people arrested, on Saudi Arabia’s denial of a reported Houthi demand and on the UN Security Council’s adoption of a Pakistan-led statement on diplomacy.

Which flights were affected?

Dozens of passenger flights across Europe, including services at Copenhagen and Prague airports, a Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome diverted to Venice, and a Ryanair flight from Rome to Lisbon.

Were any explosives found?

No. No explosive devices have been found in any of the threats, and all planes have landed safely.

Who is behind the threats?

No country has attributed blame. Security experts say the threats bear the hallmarks of a coordinated hybrid attack, but copycat threats are also possible.

Why is it called hybrid aggression?

Spain’s foreign minister used the term because the threats form part of a wider pattern of sabotage and disruption across Europe, which officials link to the continent’s support for Ukraine.