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Bomb threats disrupt multiple flights in Europe with no explosives found

Get you up to speed: Bomb threats disrupt flights across Europe, no explosive devices found

What remains unclear — Authorities have not identified any suspects or claimed responsibility for the bomb threats.

Bomb threats disrupt multiple flights in Europe with no explosives found

News|CrimeBomb threats disrupt flights across Europe, no explosive devices found

At least seven flights and an Israel-bound cruise ship receive threats, but officials say searches found no explosives.

Published On 4 Nov 20264 Nov 2026

A series of bomb threats against passenger flights across Europe has prompted emergency searches, briefly shut down an airport outside the Polish capital, Warsaw, and led the Italian Air Force to escort a Ryanair plane into Rome.

All of the threats on Tuesday turned out to be false.

At least seven flights and an Israel-bound cruise ship were targeted, according to officials. All of the planes landed safely, and searches found no explosives.

The airlines affected included Ryanair, Wizz Air, Scandinavian Airlines and the Polish carrier LOT. Ryanair, the Irish budget carrier, appeared to be the hardest hit, with four of its flights to different destinations being targeted.

No one claimed responsibility, and officials did not attribute blame.

The incidents came a day after a plane headed for Bulgaria was diverted to Hungary after receiving a similar bomb threat while in the air.

Airport closure

In Poland, two Warsaw-bound flights were targeted.

Scandinavian Airlines Flight SK751 from Copenhagen landed without incident at Warsaw Chopin Airport, which closed a runway while the plane was inspected.

“The passengers disembarked, the plane landed normally; it was not an emergency landing,” Alexandra Lindgren Kaoukji, a spokesperson for the airline, told the Polish news agency PAP. She said the matter has been referred to the Polish police.

A LOT Polish Airlines flight from London’s Heathrow, which was also due at Chopin, was diverted to the city’s second airport, Warsaw Modlin, which was closed after the alert.

The plane, a Boeing 737 Max, landed safely. “Nothing was found,” said Adam Szablowski, a spokesman for Modlin. Airport officials said normal operations later resumed.

In Italy, two Eurofighter jets escorted Ryanair Flight FR9611 from Dublin into Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, where it landed at 10:45am local time, the airport’s operator said.

The Italian Air Force said it had responded immediately to “a report of a suspected threat aboard a civilian aircraft”.

An earlier Ryanair flight from Lisbon that landed at Fiumicino at 9:40am was also subjected to anti-bomb procedures. Checks of passengers, luggage and the plane “were all negative and the alert was lifted,” the operator said.

In Spain, Aena, the national airport operator, said it had activated an emergency protocol “due to a bomb alert” on a Ryanair flight from Manchester.

The plane landed in Murcia at 10:30am without incident.

In Bulgaria, a Wizz Air flight from Bergamo, Italy, was inspected after landing in the country’s capital, Sofia, a spokesperson for the Bulgarian Interior Ministry said. A Ryanair flight from Dublin to Sofia was also targeted, the country’s transport ministry said. No explosives were found on either plane.

The threats followed a similar episode on Monday, exwhen a Wizz Air flight from London’s Luton Airport to Sofia received a bomb threat in midair and was diverted to Budapest.

Hungarian Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said on Facebook that NATO’s air-defence alert service had flagged the flight. He said Hungarian Gripen fighter jets “took to the air within minutes” and escorted it safely to the ground.

‘Hybrid’ attacks

In the United Kingdom, London’s Metropolitan Police said it had been made “aware of threats against … four aircraft due to depart from or arrive at Heathrow Airport”, one of Europe’s busiest hubs, on Tuesday.

It also received a further warning involving a flight at Manchester Airport.

After checks, police said “no security issues were identified,” without giving further details.

Late on Tuesday, the Greek Coast Guard said a Panama-flagged cruise ship, the Crown Iris, had been evacuated while anchored off the island of Syros after a bomb threat.

The ship was carrying about 1,500 passengers and crew and was bound for Haifa, Israel. No device was found, and the ship was expected to resume its voyage.

While no country pointed fingers over the bomb threats, they came at a time when European officials have been blaming both Russia and Iran for what they describe as “hybrid attacks” and acts of sabotage.

Moscow and Tehran both deny any such campaign.

This week, unidentified hackers shut down fridges in supermarkets in several European countries. Some experts said hoax bomb threats could be part of a similar pattern of low-cost, deniable disruption efforts.

Rhys Jones, analysis output manager at aviation risk advisory firm Osprey Flight Solutions, said that seven confirmed bomb threats in a single day affecting flights was exceptional.

“The lack of clear target state, airline or route indicates that general disruption to aviation operations is the aim,” Jones told Reuters.

Five people rescued after drifting for three months in the Pacific Ocean

Get you up to speed: Five people rescued after three months drifting on the Pacific Ocean | News World

What remains unclear — The fate of the other four individuals who were on the boat remains unknown.

Five people rescued after drifting for three months in the Pacific Ocean

Wanis Weita, Wboy Weita, Akinis David, Paul Paul (front row) and Tedwin Paul (behind) were rescued after months at sea (Picture: Dennis Patrick Tatireta/Facebook)

Five people, including two children, have been rescued after spending three months adrift in the Pacific Ocean.

A group of nine people originally set off on July 30 for what should have been a routine one-hour boat journey between the islands of Murilo and Ruo in Indonesia.

However, after their vessel was caught in a storm, they were blown far off course.

The US Coast Guard, supported by the US Navy and Air Force, searched more than 25,000 nautical miles before calling off the operation on August 9.

Then, on Sunday, villagers on Fanning Island in Kiribati spotted the boat drifting near their remote home, around 3,400 miles west of Ruo.

Five of the nine people who had originally been on board were found alive. They have been named as Wanis Weita, Wboy Weita, Akinis David, Paul Paul and Tedwin Paul.

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Fanning Island is a remote coral atoll in the central Pacific (Picture: Getty Images)

What happened to the other four people remains unknown.

Fanning Island, also known as Tabuaeran, is a remote coral atoll in the central Pacific.

Alexander Narruhn, governor of the Micronesian state of Chuuk, welcomed the rescue but said the families were still waiting for news of the missing passengers.

‘There were nine people aboard the boat that went missing,’ he said.

‘Thanks be to God for his love and mercy that five of the nine people have been found. We continue to pray for their four companions.’

Mr Narruhn has asked the president of the Federated States of Micronesia to begin talks with the Kiribati government to arrange for the survivors to return home.

The five have been taken in by the pastor of a local Uniting Church and received medical attention, according to local MP Kaotitaake Rakoroa.

However, Fanning Island has limited medical facilities and transport links because of its isolation.

Mr Rakoroa said the group should be moved to Kiritimati Island, the nearest urban centre, for further treatment as soon as possible.

The rescue comes as the Pacific has been the setting for some of the world’s longest recorded survival stories at sea.

Japanese captain Oguri Jukichi and a sailor survived 484 days adrift after a storm damaged their ship. They lived on hundreds of bags of soybeans and distilled seawater before being rescued off the coast of what is now California in 1815.

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