Bomb alerts force flights to land in France, Bulgaria, Belgium

PARIS: Bomb threats forced airliners to make unplanned landings across Europe on Thursday morning, the latest in a series of threats targeting flights in Europe.

Aer Lingus flight EI402 from Dublin to Rome landed safely at Evreux airport, 100 km west of Paris, after being diverted as a security precaution, the Irish airline said in a statement.

Belgian media reported that an airliner forced to land at Brussels’ Zaventem airport belonged to the Polish airline LOT.

A Finnair plane from Helsinki was safely escorted to its scheduled landing in Rome by the Italian air force, a source close to the matter said.

Bulgarian officials reported three aircraft making emergency landings because of bomb threats.

Airplanes flying from Copenhagen and Madrid landed in Sofia, the interior minister said, according to broadcaster bTV.

A third aircraft, from London, landed in Plovdiv, local media said.

On Tuesday, at least seven flights and a cruise ship received bomb threats, causing disruption at airports across Europe, although no devices were discovered.

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.