A series of bomb threats against passenger flights across Europe has prompted emergency searches, briefly shut down an airport outside the Polish capital, Warsaw, and led the Italian Air Force to escort a Ryanair plane into Rome. All of the threats on Tuesday turned out to be false. At least seven flights and an Israel-bound cruise ship were targeted, according to officials.
All of the planes landed safely, and searches found no explosives. The airlines affected included Ryanair, Wizz Air, Scandinavian Airlines and the Polish carrier LOT. Ryanair, the Irish budget carrier, appeared to be the hardest hit, with four of its flights to different destinations being targeted.
No one claimed responsibility, and officials did not attribute blame. The incidents came a day after a plane headed for Bulgaria was diverted to Hungary after receiving a similar bomb threat while in the air. In Poland, two Warsaw-bound flights were targeted.
Scandinavian Airlines Flight SK751 from Copenhagen landed without incident at Warsaw Chopin Airport, which closed a runway while the plane was inspected. She said the matter has been referred to the Polish police. A LOT Polish Airlines flight from London’s Heathrow, which was also due at Chopin, was diverted to the city’s second airport, Warsaw Modlin, which was closed after the alert.
The plane, a Boeing 737 Max, landed safely. Airport officials said normal operations later resumed. In Italy, two Eurofighter jets escorted Ryanair Flight FR9611 from Dublin into Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, where it landed at 10:45am local time, the airport’s operator said.
The Italian Air Force said it had responded immediately to “a report of a suspected threat aboard a civilian aircraft”. An earlier Ryanair flight from Lisbon that landed at Fiumicino at 9:40am was also subjected to anti-bomb procedures. Checks of passengers, luggage and the plane “were all negative and the alert was lifted,” the operator said.
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