BERLIN — Several flights across Europe received alleged bomb threats Tuesday that ultimately turned out to be hoaxes but prompted searches, diversions and, in one case, an escort by the Italian Air Force until landing, officials said.
The impacted airlines included Polish airline LOT, Scandinavian Airlines and Ryanair. No one was injured and none of the planes Tuesday made an emergency landing.
A day earlier, a plane did make an emergency landing in Hungary.
Italy
A Ryanair flight from Lisbon landed in Rome’s Fiumicino airport Tuesday morning after receipt of an email reporting a bomb was on board, according to information provided by a Fiumicino official with knowledge of the events.
Police bomb disposal experts carried out security checks of passengers, crew and baggage and found no explosives.
Another email reported a bomb on another Ryanair flight to Rome, bound from Dublin.
Italy’s air force escorted that plane to Fiumicino and the same ground security procedures were carried out, with no explosives found, the official said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
Poland
In Poland, meanwhile, a morning flight by Polish airline LOT from London’s Heathrow airport to Warsaw’s main Chopin airport was diverted to the Polish capital’s Modlin airport after a bomb threat, Polish new agency PAP reported. The Modlin airport was closed temporarily.
LOT later said that the search of the aircraft diverted to Modlin had been completed and that “nothing was found on the aircraft.” Passengers on the flight from London to Warsaw, the airline reported, were undergoing border control and, after passing through, would be transported to Chopin Airport by coach, PAP reported.
The Modlin airport later posted a statement saying that there was no real threat and the airport had resumed normal operations. It did not give any further details on the nature of the threats.
Chopin Airport also received information about a potentially dangerous item on board a Scandinavian Airlines, or SAS, flight from Copenhagen to Chopin Airport, PAP reported. The acting director of the Warsaw Airport’s communications office, Piotr Rudzki, told the news agency that standard safety procedures were immediately implemented following the information and one of the airport’s runways was closed.
“The passengers disembarked, the plane landed normally; it was not an emergency landing,” SAS spokeswoman Alexandra Lindgren Kaokju told PAP.
She added that the carrier is currently focusing on providing care to passengers and crew, and the matter has been referred to the Polish police.
Spain
Spanish officials on Tuesday ruled out the presence of explosives on a Ryanair plane from Manchester that landed in southern Spain’s Murcia airport following a bomb threat.
Passengers and crew went through a security check, and the aircraft was inspected, said Francisco Lucas, the Spanish government’s delegate in the Murcia region, on X. The flight had 121 people on board, including crew, he said.
Hungary
The bomb threats came a day after a Wizz Air flight that departed Luton airport near London was forced to make an emergency landing in Hungary after a bomb threat received while the plane was in the air.
Hungarian Defense Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said in a Facebook post on Monday that a Gripen fighter jet from the Hungarian Air Force was scrambled to intercept the Wizz Air flight bound for Sofia, Bulgaria, and escorted it safely to the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest.
Authorities found no threat aboard the aircraft after conducting an inspection of the plane and its passengers, Wizz Air told state news agency MTI.
Last month, a flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna made an emergency landing in Bulgaria following a bomb threat.
Grieshaber, Dazio and Biller write for the Associated Press. Biller reported from Rome. AP journalist Suman Naishadham in Madrid and Justin Spike in Budapest, Hungary, contributed to this report.
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