Seven Flights Hit by Bomb Threats Across Europe in One Day, With No Explosives Found

At least seven passenger flights across Europe were targeted by suspected bomb threats on Tuesday 3 November, forcing searches, runway closures and a fighter jet escort. No injuries were reported and, according to the reports, no explosives were found on any aircraft. Authorities are now trying to establish whether the bomb threats were connected.

What happened on the seven flights

The flights were bound for four countries: two for Poland, two for Italy, two for Bulgaria and one for Spain. Only one was diverted. The rest landed at their intended destinations and were checked afterwards.

The most disruptive incident involved LOT Polish Airlines Flight 286 from London Heathrow, which was carrying 181 people. It was diverted to Warsaw-Modlin Airport, about 25 miles from its planned destination of Warsaw-Chopin. According to the Mirror, Modlin raised the alert at 9.54am, and the plane landed safely minutes later. The airline said a security inspection found no suspicious items, and passengers were taken to Chopin by coach. Modlin was closed for around two hours, and the threat was cancelled at 12.21pm.

Earlier, a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen to Warsaw-Chopin was also threatened. It landed normally after about an hour in the air. An SAS spokesperson said the matter had been referred to Polish police. Warsaw airport said it closed one runway as a precaution.

In Italy, two Ryanair flights were searched at Rome Fiumicino. The airport said it received an anonymous report of an alleged bomb threat on one flight that landed around 9.40am. About an hour later, Ryanair Flight 9611 from Dublin was escorted by the Italian Air Force after a separate report. Bomb disposal experts cleared both aircraft. Reports differ slightly on the origin of the other flight: the Independent and the Mirror say Lisbon, while Business Insider said the airport did not immediately confirm it.

A Ryanair flight from Manchester to Murcia in Spain was met by fire engines, police and a bomb squad. Francisco Lucas, the Spanish government’s representative for the region, said 114 passengers and seven crew left the aircraft. Around an hour and a half later, he said the Civil Guard had ruled out explosives and the airport had resumed normal operations.

Two further flights were threatened as they approached Sofia, Bulgaria, one from Dublin and one from Bergamo. Bulgaria’s border police told the national news agency BTA that the threats arrived by email. Wizz Air said the Bergamo flight was cleared after security checks.

Are the bomb threats linked?

The sources agree that no connection has been formally established. Al Jazeera reported that several countries are investigating whether the incidents were a coordinated attempt to disrupt airspace. A European Commission spokesperson said the EU was “closely monitoring the situation” but that it was “too early to draw conclusions on whether the reported incidents are linked.”

The Independent reported that no group has claimed responsibility. It said the incidents highlight growing European concern about hybrid security threats since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That is context from the report, not a finding by investigators, and nothing in the sources attributes Tuesday’s bomb threats to any person or state.

The disruption did not start on Tuesday. On Monday, a Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Sofia was diverted to Budapest after a bomb threat was received during the flight, according to an airline spokesperson. That adds to the sense of a pattern, though again, no link has been confirmed.

Details are still emerging, and police in several countries are handling their own inquiries. For passengers, the immediate impact was delay, diversion and long waits on the tarmac. For authorities, the question is whether seven threats in a day were a coincidence or something coordinated.

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