Threats against flights in at least four European countries, Belgium, France, Italy and Bulgaria, set off a series of airport alerts on Thursday, with several planes diverted or forced to land.
In Bulgaria, three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia received bomb threats on Thursday morning, leading to forced landings and security checks at Bulgarian airports, the country’s interior ministry confirmed. The threats were sent by email and concerned aircraft flying to Bulgaria from several European cities, BNR reported.
Two of the planes, arriving from Copenhagen and Madrid, landed at Sofia’s Vasil Levski airport, where security checks are under way. The third, which took off from London, was diverted to Plovdiv airport, the transport ministry told NOVA. Passengers and crew on the affected aircraft are going through the standard security procedures for such cases.
Bulgarian authorities have not reported finding any dangerous objects on the three aircraft, and there is so far no information confirming a real threat. They are investigating the incidents and trying to establish who sent the threats.
Separately, a plane flying from Dublin to Rome was diverted after a bomb threat and landed at an air base in France.
Italian news agency ANSA reported bomb threats against two flights from Rome and Milan.
In Belgium, a LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw landed at Brussels airport after receiving a “suspicious report”, Le Soir reported.
Several other flights were diverted earlier this week for the same reason.
(information from iefimerida.gr)
