Bomb threats targeting aircraft continued across several European countries on Thursday, November 5, prompting fighter-jet escorts and diversions. No explosives have been found so far, and no one has been officially identified as responsible.
CNN’s live page could not be accessed for checking, so this report draws on Yahoo News, which builds on CNN reporting, and on AFP material carried by The New Arab. Together they indicate that more than 20 flights have been affected this week, though counts differ: Yahoo said at least 14 aircraft were affected on Thursday alone, while The New Arab put the day’s figure at about 20. Eurocontrol counted 25,072 scheduled flights across Europe that day.
광고 문의 · 300×250Responses in Bulgaria, France and Italy
According to AFP, Bulgaria’s air force escorted three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia, from Madrid, Copenhagen and London. The London flight went to Plovdiv, and a Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw was rerouted to Vienna. All landed safely and no explosives were found.
In France, an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was guided to the Evreux military base, about 100 km west of Paris. The prime minister’s office said the pilot did not cooperate as expected, and the Evreux prosecutor said the pilot had allegedly refused to land at the base. In Italy, a logistics firm working with Rome Fiumicino received an email claiming explosives were on flights from Helsinki and Dublin, and Yahoo reported that Italian Air Force jets escorted a Finnair plane to land in Rome.
Prague airport received anonymous emails threatening four flights, yet the Ryanair, easyJet and Sky Express services all landed safely. Copenhagen police said there was ‘no danger’ to passengers or others. Countries appearing in the reports we checked include Bulgaria, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Poland, but an official count of how many countries are involved has not been confirmed.
Who sent them: what is and is not confirmed
Threat messages to the Sofia and Rome airports seen by AFP contained misogynistic language and were signed ‘fighters of the Male State’. Yahoo reported that the Italian email came from the anti-feminist group ‘The Male State’. According to the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, the group began in Russia in 2016, later backed the war in Ukraine, and was banned as extremist by a Russian court in 2021. AFP, however, said it could not immediately confirm a link, and a signature alone cannot establish who is really behind the threats.
No European country has officially named a culprit. EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said it is ‘too early to draw conclusions’ on whether the incidents are linked. Analyst Eric Schouten raised the possibility of Russian state-backed sabotage, while Cyviation’s Eliran Almog suggested the aim may be to cause disruption and watch how airlines and authorities respond; both are personal assessments. UK Transport Minister Heidi Alexander called the episode a ‘malicious hoax’.