European passenger flights searched after wave of suspected bomb threats

A wave of security scares triggered emergency inspections across Europe on Tuesday as seven passenger flights were targeted by suspected bomb threats. Officials confirmed that explosive ordnance teams searched planes in Italy, Spain, Poland and Bulgaria, but found no hazardous materials on any of the aircraft.

Two of the affected services originated in the United Kingdom, prompting the British government to describe the alerts as malicious hoax threats designed to disrupt aviation. European law enforcement agencies are liaising to establish whether the widespread alerts represent a coordinated attempt to destabilise regional airspace, according to BBC News.

In Italy, two Ryanair aircraft bound for Rome—one arriving from Dublin and another from Lisbon—were cleared by specialists at Fiumicino airport. The service from the Irish capital was accompanied to the runway by Italian Air Force fighter jets. Ground teams examined the airframes, travellers and baggage before declaring the area safe.

A separate Ryanair service from Manchester touched down in Murcia, southern Spain, where emergency crews, fire vehicles and bomb disposal personnel met the aircraft on the tarmac. Passengers reported being held briefly on the runway before evacuating without their luggage, only discovering the nature of the alert after leaving the plane. Spanish officials confirmed that no explosives were present.

Poland also handled two affected services heading to Warsaw. A flight departing London Heathrow was rerouted away from the capital's primary hub, Chopin airport, and sent instead to Warsaw-Modlin airport, which briefly halted operations. A Scandinavian Airlines flight arriving from Copenhagen landed at Chopin as scheduled, where security protocols were initiated.

In Bulgaria, Transport Minister Georgi Peev reported that border authorities received warnings regarding two inbound flights to Sofia originating from Dublin and the northern Italian city of Bergamo. Police received an email claiming an improvised explosive device had been placed on board the Bergamo flight, alongside a similar claim targeting the Dublin service. Both planes landed without diversion, and subsequent checks turned up no dangerous substances.

The alerts occurred just one day after a Wizz Air flight flying from London Luton diverted to Budapest under Hungarian fighter escort following an identical scare that proved unfounded. In an unrelated security incident on the same day, authorities evacuated 1,537 people from the Panama-flagged cruise liner Crown Iris on the Greek island of Syros after a bomb warning, though inspections by the Greek Coast Guard revealed no explosives.