Reuters —
At least seven flights and cruise ships in Europe received bomb threats on Tuesday, causing chaos at airports although no devices were found.
At least two flights to Warsaw, two to Sofia, two to Rome and one to Spain’s Murcia airport were threatened on Tuesday, and another flight to Sofia was also threatened the day before. Warsaw’s airport was temporarily closed and the Italian Air Force accompanied the flight to Rome while a cruise ship bound for Israel was searched for a bomb in Greece.
There was no claim of responsibility, and authorities did not attribute responsibility. The affected airlines did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Reece Jones, analytics output manager at aviation risk advisory firm Osprey Flight Solutions, said it was unusual to see seven bomb threats in one day, affecting flights.
“The lack of a clear target state, airline or route indicates that the goal is general disruption to air operations,” Jones told Reuters.
Authorities diverted the LOT flight from London, which was scheduled to land at Warsaw’s Chopin Airport, to nearby Modlin Airport, which was then closed and then reopened after a search of the plane failed to find any equipment.
Another SAS flight from Copenhagen to Warsaw landed in Chopin as scheduled. Chopin Airport announced that no device was found and the airport remained operational.
Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry said in a statement to Reuters that bomb threats were made against planes flying from Milan/Bergamo and Dublin to Sofia. Both landed safely and tests found no explosives.
The Bergamo flight was operated by Wizz Air and had 176 passengers on board, the statement said. There were 186 passengers on board the Ryanair flight to Dublin.
BTA had previously quoted Interior Ministry officials as saying that planes from Israel were affected, but authorities later said this was not true.
A day earlier, a Wizz Air flight from London to Sofia received a bomb threat and was diverted to Budapest airport, Hungarian Defense Minister Romulus Ruzinsendi said in a Facebook post.
Part of Murcia’s airport in southeastern Spain was sealed off on Tuesday after reports of a “bomb threat” aboard a Ryanair flight from Manchester.
Officials said the report turned out to be a hoax and the airport resumed normal operations after authorities found no explosives on the plane. Ryanair declined immediate comment.
Two other Ryanair flights, one from Lisbon and the other from Dublin, were searched at Rome’s Fiumicino airport following a bomb threat, according to a source at airport operator ADR. The Dublin flight was escorted by the Italian Air Force until landing.
The official said the alert had been lifted and the airport continued to operate normally, with no other flights affected.
Explosive-sniffing dogs and divers searched the Panamanian-flagged cruise ship Crown Iris off the Greek island of Syros after an unknown person reported an explosive device attached to its hull, authorities said.
Initial tests found no explosives, but Coast Guard experts will conduct further tests before the ship resumes its voyage.
No country cited the bomb threat, but it came amid what European officials called a “hybrid attack” and sabotage against both Russia and Iran. Both Moscow and Tehran deny such a campaign.
This week, unknown hackers shut down refrigerators in supermarkets in several European countries. Some experts said the hoax bomb threat could also be part of a similar pattern of low-cost, deniable disruption activities.
“From trains to food infrastructure, like refrigerators being hacked, to all sorts of other operations, this fits perfectly into the narrative of a Russian state actor trying to disrupt Europe,” said Eric Schouten, head of aviation security group Diyami.
