The aircraft from Tel Aviv made an emergency landing at Sofia Airport after a bomb threat arrived by email. Authorities moved it to a parking area away from the terminal and other aircraft for inspection. Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry chief secretary Lyubomir Nikolov said there were no indications at that stage of an attempted terrorist attack.
The Sofia flight was among six European services targeted by bomb threats on Tuesday. Two were bound for Warsaw, one from London and one from Copenhagen. Other alerts involved a Manchester-to-Murcia flight and two Rome-bound services, one from Dublin and one from Lisbon. Reuters reported that at least seven flights were affected on 3 November, with further alerts involving flights bound for Sofia. These included a Ryanair service from Dublin carrying 185 passengers and a Wizz Air flight from Milan/Bergamo. Bulgarian authorities inspected the Dublin-to-Sofia aircraft after it landed safely and found no explosives.
The Ryanair aircraft from Manchester landed in Murcia at 10:50. Policía Nacional officers and agents from the Tedax (Técnicos en Desactivación de Artefactos Explosivos) took part in the security response, with emergency services also involved. Inspectors found no explosives. There were 114 passengers and seven crew members on board. Murcia’s Government Delegate, Francisco Lucas, said the airport activated its security protocol after receiving the alert. Local officials later described the threat as a hoax. Airport operations resumed after restricted areas were cleared.
The LOT Boeing travelling from London to Warsaw was diverted from Chopin Airport to Modlin, about 40 kilometres from the capital. Passengers disembarked while security checks were carried out, and some airport areas were closed. Warsaw-Modlin temporarily suspended air operations during the search, then resumed them around midday. A separate SAS flight from Copenhagen landed in Warsaw without incident. Authorities checked it after a threat was reported.
Two Rome-bound flights had also received threats. The Dublin service was escorted by the Italian Air Force and searched after landing; the BBC reported that inspectors found no explosives. The Lisbon service was also searched. Rome airport operator ADR confirmed checks on both Ryanair aircraft. The source account says searches of the threatened flights found no explosives.
A day earlier, on 2 November, a Wizz Air Airbus A321 flying from London to Sofia was diverted to Budapest after a bomb threat in flight. A Hungarian Air Force Gripen escorted the aircraft. It resumed its journey after checks found no explosive devices on board.
