At least 18 flights in Europe were affected by bomb threats, with most of them linked to Italy, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. Eight of the flights were connected to Italy, and no explosive devices were found during checks of the aircraft.
At Italian airports, the threats were sent by email. The aviation police and the cybercrime unit are working on the case. Investigators have not ruled out a link between today's messages and emails sent in recent days to other aircraft and around 280 schools in Italy.
One email triggered alarm over two flights
The threat concerning the Helsinki–Rome and Dublin–Rome flights was sent in a single anonymous email received early in the morning by „Aeroporti di Roma“, which operates Fiumicino and Ciampino airports, as well as by other companies at Fiumicino.
The message was written in Italian, with the subject line „Threat Alert“, and was signed „The Fighters of the Men's State“. It claimed that there were explosive devices on board that would be detonated after 60 minutes. The email ended with the words: „Today your sky will be red“.
According to Agence France-Presse, the name resembles that of a Russian extremist group called „Men's State“. There is no confirmation so far, however, that this organization was behind the messages sent.
Planes diverted and escorted by fighter jets
The Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to the Évreux Air Base in France. The Finnair aircraft flying from Helsinki to Rome landed at Fiumicino Airport after being escorted by Italian fighter jets.
The Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw was diverted to Vienna. Another aircraft operated by the same airline, traveling from Milan to Bucharest, landed at its final destination. The Thessaloniki–Milan flight operated by Aegean Airlines and the Porto–Milan flight operated by Ryanair also ended without any danger being detected.
Three aircraft at Madrid's Barajas Airport were also checked following bomb threats. Two of them had arrived from Rome and Milan, while the third was scheduled to depart for Paris. Spain's Civil Guard found no threat.
Possible coordination being investigated
Other affected flights included the Madrid–Sofia, Copenhagen–Sofia and London–Stansted–Sofia routes, with the last one diverted to Plovdiv. Threats were also received concerning a Helsinki–Vienna flight, a Warsaw–Brussels flight and four aircraft traveling to Prague.
Investigators are examining the servers and internet addresses through which the emails were sent. Initial data suggest that the messages may have been sent from compromised email accounts or through anonymity services. International cooperation channels have also been activated to establish their origin.
Sources: bta.bg, ansa.it, rainews.it