Reported by The Guardian
Planes forced into emergency landings or diversions two days after hoax alerts affected air travel
Bomb threats have caused diversions and emergency landings for at least 22 flights across Europe , renewing questions about a possibly coordinated effort to disrupt travel.
The series of warnings on Thursday affected flights between Italy, Ireland, the UK, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Finland, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, France, Greece, Serbia and Czechia.
More from the original report
On Tuesday seven planes across Europe were searched or diverted after malicious hoax bomb alerts. On Monday a flight from the UK to Bulgaria was diverted after a threat that was apparently without substance.
The bomb threats on Thursday affected flights by Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Wizz Air, Finnair, easyJet, Aegean Airlines, Iberia, Sky Express, Air Serbia and LOT. All landed safely. Searches of the planes found nothing suspicious.
The global airlines body Iata condemned the disruption and urged authorities to identify the origin of the threats. “Safety is the number one priority for the industry and we take all threats seriously,” said Nick Careen, Iata’s senior vice-president for operations, safety and security, in a statement.
There is no intelligence yet pointing to any particular group or state actor, such as Russia or Iran, amid growing concerns over hybrid incidents targeting Europe .
The EU transport commissioner, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, said it was too early to know if the incidents were linked but that any threats against civilians were unacceptable.
Bomb threats emailed to airports in Rome and Sofia were signed “fighters of the Male State”, according to sources at Aeroporti di Roma (ADR), which manages the city’s two airports, and a text seen by Agence France-Presse. “We, the fighters of the Male State, will make history with our actions today. Your feminist regime will remember this forever. The explosion will occur in 60 minutes. Today, your skies will turn red,” it said.
The affected flights had knock-on effects but were a tiny fraction of the 27,400 flights scheduled in Europe on Thursday, according to the European air traffic control agency, Eurocontrol .
The pilot of an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome…