Multiple planes diverted as bomb threats to commercial flights reported across Europe – live

in Rome

The Italian news agency Ansa, citing police sources, said the warning for the Helsinki-Rome and Dublin-Rome flights came from an anonymous email written in Italian and sent to the Rome airport company, ADR, and other affiliated companies, early on Thursday.

The subject heading was “segnalazione minaccia” (“threat warning”).

Several planes are currently in hold circling above Warsaw Okęcie airport, including PLL LOT flights from Dusseldorf, Stockholm and Toronto.

Keeping an eye on that for you.

Could very well be nothing, but there is understandable concern given today’s alerts across Europe.

We’d like to hear from passengers and airline staff caught up in the disruptions caused by a series of bomb threats to commercial flights.

Are you on one of the affected flights or has your journey disrupted? What happened, and how did you feel? What information were you given by the airline or authorities, and how was the situation handled?

Let us know:

The Romanian intelligence services also cleared the WizzAir flight that landed in Bucharest earlier today, saying their checks did not find anything worrying.

That’s reported in the Romanian media, including Antena3 and Adevarul.

Meanwhile, two more bomb threats were reported against planes flying to Milan’s Malpensa airport.

The planes affected were identified by Italian news agency ANSA as A3552 Aegean Airlines from Thessaloniki and FR8953 Ryanair flight from Porto.

Both landed safely and are being checked by authorities.

That brings the total number of planes affected this morning to 15 (so far).

All three planes that landed at Bulgarian airports following bomb threats have been cleared by the authorities with no threat confirmed, the transport ministry has said.

In a statement to the Guardian, the ministry said:

“Following a bomb threat, established security procedures were activated in relation to three Ryanair aircraft operating scheduled flights to Sofia from Madrid, Copenhagen and London.

The flight crews and the airline decided that the flights from Madrid and Copenhagen would continue to Sofia Airport, while the flight from London was diverted to Plovdiv Airport.

Upon landing, the necessary inspections were carried out in accordance with the applicable procedures and no issues were identified.

The airline is arranging transportation for passengers from Plovdiv to Sofia.

Airport operations at both Sofia Airport and Plovdiv Airport have returned to normal.”

And we are now hearing from Aer Lingus too, on its EI402 from Dublin to Rome which was diverted to a French base in Normandy this morning.

It said the diversion was “a security precaution”.

“The flight landed safely and Aer Lingus will work to reaccommodate customers to their final destination as soon as possible,” the airline said.

Similarly, the company behind Rome’s Fiumicino airport confirmed that no threat was confirmed following its investigation into a bomb alert against a FinnAir plane flying to the Italian capital (10:52).

“All verification ‌and clearance operations were ​completed with negative results, with no ⁠impact whatsoever on ​the airport’s normal ​operations,” ​airport operator ​ADR ‌said ​in ​a statement.

Meanwhile, no explosives were found on four planes which had received bomb threats before landing in Prague, Czech police confirmed.

“Security measures at Prague Airport have just ended, with pyrotechnic inspections yielding negative results.

The investigation of the threats has been taken over by NCTEKK, and currently no further information can be provided.”

NCTEKK is the National Center Against Terrorism, Extremism, and Cybercrime of the Czech police.

Meanwhile, FinnAir confirmed that two of its airplanes were affected today.

In a statement to the Guardian, the airline confirmed AY1761 from Helsinki to Rome with 144 passengers and seven crew (10:52) and AY1471 from Helsinki to Vienna with 177 passengers and six crew (11:06) “have faced unfounded or hoax bomb threats today.”

“Both flights have landed safely at their destinations, and customers have disembarked the aircraft.”

It continued that “a clear process” was in place to inspect all reported threats.

“Unfortunately, air traffic is sometimes subject to threats, as we have seen this week, when also other airlines in Europe have faced hoax bomb threats. Threats are almost always unfounded.

Aviation safety is our top priority and we take every potential threat very seriously, assessing each situation carefully and also working with local authorities.”

Another WizzAir flight was also reportedly affected, this time from Milan-Malpensa to Bucharest in Romania, according to Romanian media quoting the country’s intelligence services.

Flight number W43064 landed safely in the Romanian capital with 182 passengers and seven crew on board and is being inspected by security authorities, a CNN-affiliate station Antena3 and Adevarul reported.

Wizz Air has confirmed that its Milan Malpensa – Warsaw flight has been diverted to Vienna after “a bomb threat received during the flight” (10:52).

“The diversion was initiated in accordance with established security protocols and procedures, with the safety of passengers and crew as the highest priority,” it said.

The airline added:

“This incident comes amid a series of similar bomb threats affecting several airlines across Europe in recent days. Wizz Air is not the only airline targeted, with other carriers also experiencing threats resulting in flight diversions and security checks.

Wizz Air is cooperating fully with the relevant authorities and is taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of everyone on board. The safety and security of our passengers and crew remain our highest priority.”

Meanwhile, LOT Polish Airlines has confirmed the incident involving their plane earlier today (10:48) – but said the reported threat was not confirmed.

In a statement sent to the Guardian, the airline said:

“After receiving information about a potential threat to the safety of flight LO235 from Warsaw to Brussels, the flight crew was informed of the situation and conducted an onboard inspection in accordance with applicable procedures. No suspicious items were found.

The plane landed at Brussels Airport, where the authorities carried out an additional inspection of the aircraft, which also did not reveal the presence of any dangerous or suspicious items.”

The Czech police has just confirmed that it received reports of “an improvised explosive device” against four planes heading to Prague.

“We are preparing … for their landing. We assess the credibility of threats as low,” it said.

“We do not underestimate the threat, which is why all necessary security measures have been activated with the least possible impact on passengers and airport operations. Upon landing, pyrotechnic inspections will be conducted on all aircraft.”

Another threat was also made against FinnAir’s flight AY 1471 from Helsinki to Vienna, the airline’s spokesperson confirmed to Reuters.

The plane landed safely in the Austrian capital.

Here is a summary of all planes reportedly affected by bomb threats this morning – with the tally currently at 15:

• EI-DEH Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome, diverted to Evreux, France (9:55, 10:07, 10:25)

• FR6410 Ryanair flight from Madrid to Sofia (10:45)

• FR3606 Ryanair flight from Copenhagen to Sofia (10:45)

• FR1730 Ryanair flight from London Stansted to Sofia, diverted to Plovdiv, Bulgaria (10:45)

• LO235 LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw to Brussels (10:48)

• W46387 WizzAir flight from Milan Malpensa to Warsaw-Okęcie, diverted to Vienna, Austria (10:52)

• AY1761 FinnAir flight from Helsinki to Rome Fiumicino (10:52).

• AY 1471 FinnAir flight from Helsinki to Vienna (11:06).

• Four currently unidentified flights to Prague (11:16)

• W43064 WizzAir flight from Milan-Malpensa to Bucharest (11:50).

• A3552 Aegean Airlines flight from Thessaloniki to Milan-Malpensa (12:17).

• FR8953 Ryanair flight from Porto to Milan-Malpensa (12:17).

Post last updated at 12:18 CET with the latest tally