Bomb Threats Hit European Flights and Broadcasters

European authorities investigated a fresh wave of bomb threats on November 6, affecting flights in several countries and prompting the evacuation of Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTÉ. Searches uncovered no dangerous objects, and everybody was unharmed. The threats followed multiple hoaxes earlier in the week that led to flight diversions.

Hungary’s defense minister said fighter jets escorted three passenger planes across Hungarian airspace after each received a threat. France’s prime minister’s office said four flights over French territory were threatened and landed safely at Paris-Orly for checks. Other alerts involved flights between Prague and Bucharest, Lisbon and Rome, and Prague and Rome; the last was diverted to Venice, where passengers were evacuated.

At Prague airport, nine flights were threatened, including services arriving from Denmark, Spain and Britain and departing for several European destinations. Police in Denmark and the Czech Republic also responded to threats. Eurocontrol said it was aware of threats against 14 flights on Thursday and seven on Tuesday, among nearly 26,300 flights across its network on Thursday. It said it was working with aviation partners to limit disruption.

The source of the threats remains unclear. Authorities have not linked them to a government or identified a responsible group, though officials have warned of possible Russian hybrid activity in Europe. A threat email sent to Rome airport authorities claimed to come from an anti-feminist group, but investigators have not established whether it was connected to other messages.

RTÉ’s Dublin headquarters was evacuated and broadcasts switched to prerecorded programs; staff returned after police searched the site. UK broadcaster Sky also said it received a security threat and remained on air. Ireland’s prime minister said Dublin would have a major security operation next week for European political and EU leaders’ meetings.