Bomb Threats Disrupt at Least 18 Flights Across Europe as Officials Probe Possible Hybrid Campaign

A new wave of bomb threats on Friday disrupted air traffic across Europe, affecting at least 18 flights to nine countries and spreading to media organizations. All aircraft affected by the threats landed safely, and inspections found no explosives.

In Hungary, the defense minister said fighter jets escorted three passenger aircraft through the country's airspace within an hour after each received a bomb threat. The flights ran from Brussels to Sofia, Prague to Cyprus and Prague to Romania. France said it received four bomb threats on Friday against aircraft flying through its airspace. Other threats targeted a TAROM flight from Prague to Bucharest and a Ryanair flight from Portugal to Rome. A Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome was diverted to Venice after a bomb alert, and passengers were evacuated after landing.

Earlier in the week, seven threats were reported on Tuesday, along with a false alarm involving an Israeli cruise ship, and at least 14 flights were threatened on Thursday, including one bound for Israel.

On Friday the threats also reached broadcasters. Ireland's public broadcaster RTÉ evacuated its Dublin headquarters after a bomb threat, replacing live programming with prerecorded content; staff returned several hours later after police searched with sniffer dogs. Sky News said it had received a security threat and continued broadcasting as usual. Bulgaria's NOVA TV said it received an email threatening to plant a bomb at its facilities. Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said the incidents show how simple it can be to disrupt society.

The identity of those responsible is unknown. Investigators said there is no evidence the hoax threats were coordinated by a hostile terrorist organization or a state actor such as Russia or Iran.

Some Thursday threats were signed in the name of "Male State fighters," a reference to Male State, a Russian far-right movement founded in 2016. Its founder, Vladislav Pozdnyakov, denied involvement on Telegram and said the group ceased to exist in 2021. An email received by aviation authorities in Rome described the sender as an anti-feminist group targeting a "feminist regime."

The threats come amid other cyber incidents. A ransomware attack on Friday crippled computer systems at all 66 public libraries in New York City's Queens borough, prompting an FBI and NYPD investigation. Last week the Pentagon said it was investigating disruptions to refrigeration systems at at least six military bases, after hackers remotely took control of refrigeration systems at supermarkets across Europe.

Hoax threats of this kind work on cost asymmetry: an email costs the sender nothing, while each one can pull in fighter escorts, a diversion, a passenger evacuation and a ground search. Eliran Almog, CEO of aviation cybersecurity company CyViation, said repeated threats can both disrupt airline and airport operations and test authorities' responses, which is a different aim from causing harm to any single aircraft.

Operators absorb this through preparation rather than through the threat itself. Paul Reuter of the European Cockpit Association said pilots are identifying alternative diversion airports in advance and sometimes carrying extra fuel, which shifts a small cost onto every flight crossing the affected airspace. Business aviation flying through the same corridors faces the same airspace handling, even though no private flight is named among the threatened services.

The open question is calibration. London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley urged a measured response so authorities do not overreact to every online message, while Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin spoke of a very significant security operation. Attribution of the sender or senders, which investigators have not established, would be the development that most changes how seriously these threats are handled.