At least 25 flights across Europe were disrupted by bomb threats on 5 November 2026, triggering emergency landings, diversions, and searches at multiple airports. Airlines including Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Wizz Air, Finnair, easyJet, Aegean Airlines, Iberia, Sky Express, Air Serbia, and LOT Polish Airlines were affected.
Flight Diversions and Security Actions on 5 November
Bomb threats prompted the diversion of an Aer Lingus flight EI402 from Dublin to Rome to Évreux airport, located about 100 km west of Paris. The pilot was questioned by French authorities after initially refusing to land at a military base. A Ryanair flight from London Stansted to Cork was delayed following an anonymous
phone threat received by Cork Airport. Another Ryanair flight, operating from Pescara (Italy) to Brussels-Charleroi, was inspected after the word “bomb” was found written on an onboard toilet wall.
EasyJet flights from Newcastle and Glasgow to Prague were met by police on arrival as a precautionary measure. Aegean Airlines flights A3552 (Thessaloniki to Milan) and A3860 (Athens to Vienna) also received threats but completed their journeys without incident. Wizz Air flights from Milan landed in Bucharest and Vienna after threats surfaced, while a LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw landed as scheduled in Brussels, and another LOT flight to Paris
was halted while taxiing.
Military escorts were used for some flights in Bulgaria and Italy, adding to delays. Helicopters and ground inspections were conducted at Heathrow and Birmingham airports in the UK, where four threats were made against flights departing or arriving. The Metropolitan Police aviation police command confirmed no security issues were identified following assessments.
Investigations and Claims of Responsibility
The week saw at least 34 flights disrupted in Europe by bomb threat hoaxes, with no explosives found after thorough searches. The Male State, a Russian far-right ultranationalist group, claimed responsibility by emailing threats to airports in Rome and Sofia, warning of explosions to
occur within 60 minutes. The messages referred to the targeted regimes as feminist and promised that “today, your skies will turn red.”
Authorities across Europe have not established a conclusive link between all the threats or definitive involvement of state actors such as Russia or Iran. Investigations continue across affected countries including Italy, France, the UK, and Ireland. The European Commission stated it was too soon to confirm if the incidents were connected but condemned all threats against civilians as unacceptable.
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto described the threats as “under-threshold warfare,” intended to increase tensions without allowing definitive attribution.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called accusations against Russia “absurd” and “baseless.”
Airport and Airline Responses
Dublin Airport, which handles approximately 70,000 passengers and 600 flights daily, confirmed only one flight was diverted and operations otherwise continued normally. A spokesperson urged passengers to arrive as usual. Both EasyJet and Aegean Airlines stated that their affected flights landed safely with no explosives found. The Metropolitan Police reiterated that their threat assessments at Heathrow and Birmingham found no security threats.
Nick Careen, Iata’s senior vice-president for operations, safety and security, said, “Safety is the number one priority for the industry and we take all threats seriously.” The
volume of incidents has prompted heightened security vigilance but no changes in screening protocols have been announced.
Context and Impact
The bomb hoaxes are part of a broader pattern of disruptive attacks in Europe this week, which have also included cyberattacks targeting supermarket refrigeration systems. These coordinated efforts have caused costly delays and operational disruptions at airports but have not compromised passenger safety.
According to Eurocontrol, about 27,400 flights were scheduled across Europe on 5 November 2026, making the disrupted flights a fraction of total air traffic. Aviation analysts note the accessibility of detailed airline operational data online facilitates coordination of such hoaxes,
increasing their impact despite no physical threat materializing.
