EU activates information sharing after 25 flights face false bomb threats
The European Commission launched a new protocol after a series of diversions and ground stops disrupted travel across the continent on Tuesday and Thursday.
By Nikolai Patterson ·
Travelers across Europe faced diversions, military escorts, and temporary ground stops this week as false bomb threats disrupted at least 25 flights. The incidents forced airlines to alter routes and airports to deploy security teams, affecting passengers in countries including Spain, Italy, and France. The European Commission announced on Thursday that it has activated a mechanism for exchanging information among member states to coordinate responses to these disruptions.
In Madrid, the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport received communications regarding explosive threats on Tuesday. Aena, the airport operator, stated that the alerts affected three specific flights: one departing for Paris, and two arriving from Rome and Milan. The threats targeted two Iberia aircraft and one Air Europa plane. A security committee formed with national police forces evaluated the aircraft and ruled the threats out after inspections.
One of the first documented cases involved a plane flying from Dublin to Rome. France 3 reported that the aircraft was diverted over French airspace due to a bomb alert. Two fighter jets escorted the plane to the Évreux air base east of Paris. The pilot initially refused to land at the military installation, but the plane eventually touched down safely. Bulgarian transport authorities confirmed that three Ryanair flights destined for Bulgaria, departing from Madrid, London, and Copenhagen, were also escorted by military aircraft upon arrival.
Finnair, a Finnish carrier, told the state broadcaster YLE that one of its flights carrying 144 passengers was escorted by Italian fighter jets. The aircraft landed in Rome without incident. In Austria, Eurofighter jets ascended to accompany threatened planes. Inspections of all affected aircraft, which included low-cost carriers like Ryanair and Wizz Air as well as national airlines like Iberia and Aegean, found no suspicious items or threats to passengers.
Ground operations were also affected. Piotr Rudzki, a spokesperson for Polish Airports, told EFE that a runway at Warsaw Chopin airport closed temporarily after a LOT flight to Paris faced a potential threat before takeoff. In Copenhagen, police and armed forces specializing in explosives responded to two stationary aircraft. UK authorities dismissed threats at Heathrow and Birmingham airports as "not credible," while a delayed departure in Cork, Ireland, was attributed to a similar alert.
European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas stated on X that the commission is monitoring the situation closely and maintaining contact with affected member states and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. The agency, based in Cologne, noted that pilots and air traffic controllers have training for such events, keeping the immediate operational risk low. IATA condemned the attempts to disrupt air traffic and urged authorities to identify the source of the threats. A senior NATO official said the alliance is monitoring the situation and coordinating with allies, noting that some emergency takeoffs were transferred to NATO.
