Fresh bomb threats rattle European aviation; at least 12 flights targeted, 5 diverted

At least five more European passenger flights were diverted after bomb threats were received on Thursday (November 5), days after eight planes were grounded due to the same hoax warnings. On a single day, at least 12 European flights were targeted by bomb threats, with several planes receiving fighter jet escort, authorities and airlines confirmed. The threat marks the third day of mass bomb alerts this week and particularly targeted low-cost carriers on European flights. Since November 2, a total of 21 aircraft have been involved in reported bomb threats and related security alerts across Europe.

A Ryanair flight from Stansted to Sofia in Bulgaria was also diverted to nearby Plovdiv on Thursday morning after a bomb threat. In addition, a flight from Warsaw to Paris on the Polish airline LOT launched security checks following the airline received a threat. In response, the airline said it found no threat and that services continued as normal.

At least eight hoax threats against aircraft this week

In other news, an Italian fighter jet escorted a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome after it was threatened mid-flight. This comes amid a string of at least eight hoax threats against aircraft earlier in the week, which had prompted security experts to warn carriers that more incidents like this could follow.

Standard protocol when such a threat comes in is for the aircraft to head straight to its destination or the nearest safe airport, where police specially trained for this kind of search go through the plane and its contents, a process that often stretches on for hours and leaves passengers shaken and inconvenienced.