Almost 30 flights across Europe were affected by “hoax” bomb threats on Thursday, with one Irish passenger describing the incident as “terrifying”.
A second day of flight disruption due to a series of bomb threats saw at least 27 flights affected on Thursday, several of which were travelling to or from Ireland.
The disruption came just two days after seven planes across Europe were searched or diverted.
Two Ryanair flights, one from Dublin to Prague and one from London Stansted to Cork, were among those affected on Thursday. The Cork-bound flight was delayed by 90 minutes after Cork Airport received an anonymous phone threat.
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An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome, meanwhile, was diverted to an airfield in northern France following a bomb threat.
Dubliner Katie McAteer, who was aboard the flight, said she was about an hour into the journey when passengers were told by the pilot there was a “problem with plane” and that it had been directed to land at the airbase.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s News at One, she recalled seeing a “fighter pilot flying right beside the plane”, describing the sight as “scary”.
“I think none of us really knew what was going on at that point,” she said, though the pilot subsequently informed passengers he believed the threat was not credible, which was “relieving”.
“But yeah, it was terrifying,” she added.
The flight, which was carrying 151 passengers and six crew members, was diverted to the Évreux-Fauville airbase in Normandy. A statement from the French prime minister’s office said all were “brought to safety and the bomb disposal teams intervened”.
Gardaí confirmed they were satisfied a bomb threat made against a Ryanair flight from London Stansted to Cork was a hoax after carrying out an examination of the plane after it landed. It is understood Cork Airport received an anonymous threat that there was a bomb aboard the flight at 6am. Gardaí were on standby when the flight landed before 8am.
The Boeing 738 with up to 180 passengers on board was evacuated and all luggage was removed and examined before the threat was later declared a hoax.
Overall, flights between Italy, Ireland, the UK, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Finland, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, France, Greece, Serbia and Czechia were affected, had to make emergency landings or were diverted.
The bomb threats on Thursday affected flights by Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Wizz Air, Finnair, EasyJet, Aegean Airlines, Iberia, Sky Express, Air Serbia and LOT. All flights landed safely, with searches of the aircraft finding nothing suspicious.
Minister for Defence Helen McEntee said it was “extremely concerning, what we’ve seen happen in a very short space of time”.
She said it was important those responsible are identified “as soon as possible, because of the disruption this is causing and the fear”.
“There’s a lot of work happening across the EU. The transport commissioner is working with our own Ministers, our transport Minister as well, to identify whether these are connected,” she said.
Noting that 55 heads of state are due to convene in Ireland next week, McEntee said “everything” will be done to “ensure their security and safety throughout this”.
The EU’s transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said “any threats against civilians are unacceptable” but it was too early to draw any definitive connection between bomb threats made to several airlines across Europe disrupting air travel this week.
Speaking at an informal tourism ministers’ summit in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, he said the commission was “closely monitoring the situation”.
While no country has attributed blame for the threats, they come 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.
– Additional reporting: PA/Guardian
