Seven passenger planes across Europe received bomb threats on Tuesday. Two Ryanair flights departing from Dublin and Lisbon were searched after landing in Rome following anonymous tips. No explosives were found. Additional planes were targeted in Poland, Spain and Bulgaria.
A Ryanair flight from Manchester to Murcia, Spain also received a threat. A flight from London Heathrow to Warsaw was diverted to a smaller airport. Two flights heading to Sofia, Bulgaria received threats via email reporting improvised explosive devices, though no explosives were found when checked.
The UK government described the incidents as "malicious hoax threats" and said it operates "one of the most robust aviation security systems in the world." Aviation security expert Paul Mason told BBC Radio 5 Live that multiple credible threats across different airlines "would suggest to me that it's been a very deliberate act by a typical actor rather than a load of coincidental, malicious calls." It remains unclear whether the incidents are connected, though authorities from various countries will cooperate to assess whether this was a coordinated attack.
These incidents follow a Wizz Air emergency landing in Budapest on Monday after a bomb threat, also with no explosives found.