Airports in several European countries faced further disruptions and heightened security checks today following another wave of bomb threats against aircraft.
Reports so far indicate that at least 17 flights have been affected. Authorities are trying to determine where the threats came from and whether they are credible. At Prague Airport, one of the hardest hit, alerts affected at least eight arriving and departing flights.
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Airport spokesperson Denisa Hejtmánková said the affected aircraft included those arriving from Denmark, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as those departing for the Netherlands, Cyprus, Romania, Italy and Britain. A plane flying from Prague to Rome was diverted and landed safely in Venice.
A security alert also affected a flight operated by Romanian airline TAROM on the Prague–Bucharest route. An emergency was declared during the flight, but the plane arrived safely in Bucharest and the threat was not substantiated. Portuguese police, meanwhile, said an alert concerning a flight from Rome to Lisbon was false.
Investigations into the origin and circumstances of that incident are continuing; it also affected the return flight on the same route. Similar alerts were reported in France.
The French prime minister’s office said four new bomb threats had been received during the day concerning aircraft flying over the country. All landed safely and were inspected by specialist bomb disposal units. Authorities have launched investigations to identify the source of the threats.
Two alerts were also issued in Sofia for aircraft arriving from London Stansted and Brussels. A spokesperson for Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry said both landed without incident. The threats were not limited to airports: they also affected media outlets in Ireland.
Several Irish media organizations, including public broadcaster RTÉ, interrupted broadcasts and evacuated staff after receiving bomb threats. Radio One resumed its regular programming later in the morning, while police continued checks at the affected premises.
