Anabelle Colaco
08 Nov 2026

ROME/WARSAW/EVREUX: At least 27 passenger flights across Europe were targeted by bomb hoaxes on November 5, forcing some aircraft to divert and prompting military fighter jets to escort or intercept others in a second wave of aviation disruptions this week.

The threats affected flights across several countries, from Ireland to Bulgaria, involving airlines including Aer Lingus, Ryanair, Wizz Air, LOT, Finnair, Easyjet and Iberia. Aircraft travelling to destinations such as Rome, Paris, Prague, Brussels, Milan and Sofia were among those affected.

No country has attributed responsibility for the threats. However, the incidents occurred amid growing concerns among European officials about sabotage and so-called hybrid attacks, which are often inexpensive, difficult to attribute and unlikely to provoke a military response.

Several European countries, including Denmark, Poland and Romania, have previously accused Russia of involvement in such activities. Germany blamed Moscow for an attack on Leipzig airport in August, while Britain has previously accused Russia of similar actions and linked Iran to a suspected plot targeting a US air base.

Both Russia and Iran deny involvement.

Eric Schouten, head of aviation security group Dyami, noted that most of the affected countries supported Ukraine in its war against Russia's invasion.

"From a geopolitical view, I'm thinking, you always have to think about the scenario of hybrid warfare, where a country in this way — today we are looking at Russia, right? — is attacking us on multiple fronts, from railways to supermarkets to blood banks, most recently. The energy sector, the internet sector, and the aviation sector are among those," he said.

In France, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's office said fighter jets intercepted an Aer Lingus flight travelling from Dublin to Rome and escorted it to an air force base at Evreux after the pilot failed to cooperate with authorities as expected. No explanation was given for the pilot's behaviour.

Bulgaria's air force also deployed fighter jets to escort three passenger aircraft. Two Ryanair flights from Copenhagen and Madrid landed as scheduled in Sofia, while another flight from London was diverted to Plovdiv.

Spanish authorities received three emailed bomb threats within 20 minutes involving two Air Europa flights departing Madrid for Paris and four incoming Iberia flights from Rome and Milan.

Several aircraft at Madrid airport were stopped or returned to their stands, with passengers disembarking while security inspections were carried out.

In Poland, a LOT flight bound for Paris was halted while taxiing for takeoff in Warsaw, and passengers were transferred to another aircraft. A flight from Cork, Ireland, was delayed by 90 minutes after the airport received a threat.

Police in Denmark said two aircraft were searched at Copenhagen airport, while Italian media reported that a Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw had been diverted to Vienna.

Other threatened flights landed as scheduled, including two Easyjet services from Britain and flights from Ireland and Greece to Prague, a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Vienna, a LOT flight from Warsaw to Brussels, a Wizz Air flight from Milan to Bucharest and an Air Serbia flight from Belgrade to Bucharest.

Italian news agency ANSA reported that two aircraft landed as planned in Milan. A person familiar with the matter also said Italian fighter jets escorted a Finnair aircraft from Helsinki to its scheduled landing in Rome.

The operator of Rome's Fiumicino Airport said services had not been disrupted.

"It's more complicated with everything that's going on, but what else are we going to do?" said passenger Lucia Parga, from Spain. "We still have to get around. So, well, we just have to deal with it as best we can."

Another traveller, Gabriele Franzese, said: "You can't worry too much about every piece of news. If the plane crashes, so be it. If it's meant to happen, it'll happen anyway."

Joji Waites, director of flight safety at the British Airline Pilots' Association, said airlines generally did not act on threats unless assessors considered them credible.

Eliran Almog, chief executive of aviation cybersecurity company Cyviation, said the hoaxes could be intended both to disrupt airline operations and to observe how authorities responded.

"These aviation threats are also occurring in the same period as cyberattacks on supermarket refrigeration systems across Europe," Almog said.

"Different essential services are experiencing disruption that carries economic costs and can undermine public confidence."

The latest incidents followed bomb hoaxes targeting at least seven flights and a cruise ship on November 3.

Europe has also experienced a fresh wave of cyberattacks against supermarket refrigeration systems this week, with French blood banks among the facilities affected.