Hoax bomb threats against flights across Europe: second such incident this week
A series of fake bomb threats has targeted more passenger flights in Europe, including LOT and Wizz Air services. No threat was confirmed, and the European Commission has activated an information-sharing mechanism.
Author: Editorial teamPublished: 2 min read
Contents
For the second time in a few days, Europe has seen a wave of hoax bomb threats against passenger aircraft. According to media reports, in all the cases described, the authorities found no explosives.
What happened
According to Polish media (Bankier.pl, Money.pl), on Thursday 5 November 2026 the reports included a PLL LOT plane that landed in Brussels and a Wizz Air aircraft flying from Milan to Warsaw. In the Czech Republic, police received reports of a threat on board four aircraft heading to Prague. Checks after landing found no explosives, the CTK agency reported.
Alerts were also recorded in Spain: at Madrid airport they concerned three aircraft, and airport operator Aena and the police confirmed the reports were false. A similar alert concerned a Finnish airline flight from Helsinki to Vienna, which landed as planned. According to the airport authorities, it did not disrupt operations.
Earlier incidents
A similar series took place on Tuesday 3 November. Four reports concerned Ryanair flights: from Manchester to Murcia, from Lisbon to Rome, and from Dublin to Rome and to Sofia. All turned out to be false. On Monday 2 November, a Wizz Air plane from London to Sofia was diverted to Budapest after a report of a bomb on board. That threat was not confirmed either.
Warsaw Chopin Airport services received a report of a potentially dangerous item on a LOT plane flying to Paris. Standard procedures were put in place, but checks did not confirm any threat.
Response and investigation
The European Commission has activated the EU mechanism for sharing aviation security information. It is not known who is behind the alerts. Matthew Borie of Osprey Flight Solutions, a firm advising airlines on security, said it "may be linked to Russian activity". That is only an expert's opinion, not a finding by investigators.
BBC Verify is analysing messages connected with the threats. According to the BBC's description, they show how the information about the threat was passed on by air traffic control. We were unable to confirm the details of this analysis independently.
What this means for you
Among the flights affected were services from UK airports, including London and Manchester, as well as flights linked to Poland. Alerts can mean delays, diversions or extra checks. Passengers should keep checking their airline's announcements and follow the instructions of crew and airport staff.
Sources
- Fighter jets scrambled and emergency landings. Massive wave of false alarms across Europe
- Wave of alerts in Europe. European Commission activates special mechanism
- Bomb alerts on several aircraft. Including one flying from London to Poland
- Bomb hoaxes: Messages reveal how threat was passed on by air traffic control
This article was prepared automatically by AI from the listed sources and published without prior editorial review. Spotted a mistake? Use the “Report an error in this article” button.
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