European aviation has suffered disruption this week due to a series of “malicious” mid-air bomb threats made to multiple aircraft.
Threats were made to seven European flights on Tuesday. All these services were able to land safely and subsequent searches of the aircraft at airports found no signs of any explosive devices onboard.
Flights operated by LOT Polish Airlines, SAS, Ryanair and Wizz Air were affected by the bomb threats with searches carried out at airports in Poland, Spain, Bulgaria and Italy.
Tuesday’s incidents followed the diversion of a Wizz Air flight on Monday (2 November) following a similar mid-air bomb threat. The service from London Luton Airport to Sofia in Bulgaria had to make an emergency landing at Budapest following the alert, with a Hungarian fighter jet escorting the aircraft into Budapest Airport.
The UK government described the incidents as “malicious hoax threats”, which had triggered “well-tested processes”.
“The UK has one of the most robust aviation security systems in the world, with well-tested processes for dealing with any potential threats, as well as malicious hoax threats, like those we’ve seen today," said a government spokesperson in a statement.
They added that the UK’s police and intelligence service had the tools to “assess and respond to potential threats”.