At least 34 flights in Europe were disrupted by bomb threats this week, with 25 occurring on Thursday, November 5, 2026. These incidents affected flights across 16 countries including Italy, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Finland, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, France, Greece, Serbia, and Czechia.
The threats impacted flights operated by low-cost and national carriers such as Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Wizz Air, Finnair, easyJet, Aegean Airlines, Iberia, Sky Express, Air Serbia, and LOT Polish Airlines. Airports involved included Heathrow and Birmingham in the UK, Rome and Sofia, Cork, and others across Europe. Some flights were forced to
divert or make emergency landings. Notably, an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to Évreux in France, where the pilot was questioned after initially refusing to land at a military base. All aircraft landed safely and thorough searches found no explosives or suspicious items.
Bomb threat emails sent to Rome and Sofia airports were signed by “fighters of the Male State,” a Russian far-right ultranationalist movement founded in 2016. These emails warned: “We, the fighters of the Male State, will make history with our actions today. Your feminist regime will remember this for ever. The explosion will
occur in 60 minutes. Today, your skies will turn red.” Additional threats were received by phone at Cork Airport, causing a Ryanair flight from London Stansted to Cork to be delayed.
British authorities, including the Metropolitan police’s aviation police command, determined threats at Heathrow and Birmingham airports were hoaxes with no security concerns identified. A police spokesperson confirmed that, after threat assessment, no security issues were found. Iata’s senior vice-president for operations, safety and security, Nick Careen, affirmed: “Safety is the number one priority for the industry and we take all threats seriously.” Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto described the
campaign of fake alarms as “under-threshold warfare” designed to evade attribution and stoke tensions, saying: “It’s called ‘under-threshold warfare’ because it’s below the attribution threshold. It’s done that way on purpose, so no one can pin the blame.” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed accusations implicating Russia in related cyber-attacks as “absurd.”
Passengers on multiple flights faced delays and diversions. A Ryanair flight from Pescara to Brussels-Charleroi was inspected after the word “bomb” was found scrawled in an onboard toilet. The Ryanair flight from London Stansted to Cork was delayed following an anonymous phone threat. The Aer Lingus flight diverted to
Évreux caused questioning and added delays for passengers. Overall, the affected flights represented a small fraction of the 27,400 European flights scheduled on November 5, according to Eurocontrol.
Investigations have found no evidence linking the bomb threat hoaxes to hostile states or terrorist groups. The incidents followed cyber-attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems earlier in the week. Aviation experts noted that while fake bomb threats are common, the scale and apparent coordination across multiple countries and airlines is unprecedented. Rhys Jones from Osprey Flight Solutions described the threats as a “reasonably chaotic campaign with no particular region targeted” that could lead
to heightened security, media attention, and public concern despite not targeting any exclusive area. Airlines continue normal security protocols but face operational costs and disruption as a result of these malicious hoaxes.
