European Air Travel Disrupted by Wave of Hoax Bomb Threats

European aviation authorities and law enforcement agencies responded to a series of security alerts after at least 21 aircraft and multiple airports across the continent were targeted by bomb threats. The disruptions marked the second such incident within a week, impacting flights across Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland, Romania, and the United Kingdom.

BBC News reported that an Aer Lingus flight traveling from Dublin to Rome was diverted to the Evreux military air base in France. In another instance, Italian fighter jets escorted a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome. EasyJet stated that police met its incoming flights from Newcastle and Glasgow in Prague as a precautionary measure. Additionally, Portuguese media noted that a Ryanair flight operating from Rome to Lisbon under flight number FR8196 also faced a bomb threat, with CNN Portugal stating that authorities were evaluating the credibility of the message.

Airport authorities in Rome confirmed to the BBC that inbound flights received hoax warnings via email on Thursday. Aeroporti di Roma, which manages the city's airports, verified that the messages were signed on behalf of a group or individual calling themselves "Fighters of the Male State," making claims regarding a feminist regime and threatening explosions. BBC News reported that this name likely refers to the Russian ultra-right group "Muzhskoi Legion," which was banned by a Moscow court in 2021.

United Kingdom Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander described the incidents as malicious hoax threats. London Heathrow and Birmingham airports also received threats that were subsequently assessed as not credible.

Searches conducted across the affected planes and facilities found no explosives. Investigators have not yet determined whether the separate incidents are related, or whether a group claiming responsibility is genuinely behind the alerts.