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Gabriela Pomeroy, Yaroslav Lukiv
A series of bomb threats were made against airports and aircraft across Europe on the 5th, affecting multiple airports and at least 21 flights. This is the second such incident this week, with British authorities calling it a "malicious false threat".
So far, flights to Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland and Romania have been affected. An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was forced to land at an air force base in France after receiving threats. Finnair's flight from Helsinki to Rome was escorted by Italian fighter jets.
British low-cost airline EasyJet said its flights from Newcastle and Glasgow were met by police in Prague as a precaution. Threats were also made to London Heathrow and Birmingham airports, but they were judged to be less credible.
No explosives have been found during the investigation so far. Although unknown groups have claimed responsibility for some of the incidents, it is unclear whether each of the bomb threats is related.
Airport authorities in Italy's capital, Rome, said they had received threats via email against two incoming flights.
The threats were signed by groups or individuals calling themselves "Male Nation Warriors," authorities said. They target "feminist regimes" and claim to "write their names in history."
The threat said the explosion would "paint the sky red."
These details were first reported by Italian media. Later, Rome Airports Corporation, which manages the city's two airports, confirmed the content.
"Male state warriors" is likely a reference to Russia's far-right group, the Mzhizkoi (Men's) Legion. The group was banned by a Russian court in 2021 due to its extremely extremist ideology. However, he publicly supported Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine, which began the following year, and maintained tens of thousands of followers on the Internet.
Even if the threatening emails are genuine, they are unlikely to help police or airport authorities identify who is spreading these rumors or why.
Heathrow Airport said in a statement that the threat had been received earlier in the day but was "determined to have no credibility" and there was "no danger to passengers, staff or aircraft."
"The UK has strong aviation security standards in place to assess and safely manage these situations," the statement said.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Birmingham Airport told the BBC that after receiving the threat, they "immediately began the process of coordinating with the emergency services and relevant authorities."
British Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander described Monday's incident as a "malicious false threat".
Transport Minister Alexander said the government "takes these threats very seriously" and stressed that there are "established procedures in place to deal with fraudulent schemes and malicious threats."
A British government spokesperson later said the threat, which was reported "early in the morning" that day, had been "resolved", but gave no further details.
In addition, the following threats were made on the 5th:
Philip Baum, a professor of aviation security at Britain's Coventry University, said the airline industry "faces multiple bomb threats every day" but said he was "surprised" by this week's incident.
"The flight will only be redirected if the threat is credible and the authorities believe there may be explosives on board," Baum said.
"Repeated false threats could cause people to let down their guard and cause real threats to be ignored. Alternatively, false threats could serve as a distraction," he said.
Marco Chan, an aviation expert at Britain's Kingston University, told the BBC that the threats were "probably a prank, but the system is right to treat them as real."
He added that some experts believe the series of false threats is "part of a cheap and potentially avoidable disruption effort" against air travel.
Although disinformation can also be caused by copycat criminals, "the sample size of these three days is too small to distinguish between organized crime and copycat attacks," Chan said.
In Europe, bomb threats were made against flights on the 2nd, and seven flights, including two from the UK, were searched. No explosives were found on either aircraft.
On this day, a Wizz Air flight headed from London Luton Airport to Sofia received an aerial bomb threat and made an emergency landing in Budapest, escorted by Hungarian Air Force fighter jets.
(English article: Hoax bomb threats target European airlines and airports for second time in a week)
