Prague hub anchors new wave of European aviation threats
Fourteen flights were targeted Thursday, with nine involving Václav Havel Airport, while broadcasters in Dublin, London, and Sofia received parallel security alerts.
By Scott Marshall ·
European air traffic managers tracked a new cluster of bomb threats across the continent on Friday, following a busy week of disruptions.
Eurocontrol, the European air traffic authority, reported 14 bomb threats on Thursday, affecting a small fraction of the 26,300 flights in its network that day. Seven threats were recorded on Tuesday, and EU Transportation Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas confirmed 11 additional threats on Friday. No suspicious items were found, and no passengers were injured.
Václav Havel Airport in Prague served as the primary focal point. Airport spokesperson Denisa Hejtmánková stated that nine of the affected flights were either arriving from or departing to the Czech capital. These included routes to and from Denmark, Spain, Britain, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Italy, and Romania. Czech police described the security measures as having a minimal impact on normal operations.
The geographic spread extended beyond the central European hub. In Hungary, Defense Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said fighter jets escorted three passenger planes through national airspace on Friday. The flights originated from Brussels and Prague, with destinations in Sofia, Cyprus, and Romania. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s office confirmed four threats against aircraft over France, resulting in safe landings at Paris Orly Airport and subsequent inspections by bomb disposal experts.
Specific airline operations were also disrupted. A WizzAir flight from Prague to Rome was diverted to Venice, and a Ryanair service from Lisbon to Rome received a threat. A Tarom flight from Prague to Bucharest was similarly targeted. Eurocontrol stated it is monitoring the situation closely to mitigate disruption to air traffic flows.
The threats have expanded to the broadcasting sector. Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTE, evacuated its Dublin headquarters on Friday, replacing live broadcasts with prerecorded content until police with sniffer dogs cleared the building. Sky News in the U.K. reported receiving a security threat but remained on air. In Bulgaria, private broadcaster NOVA TV received an email claiming the sender was behind the aviation threats.
Authorities have not yet attributed the incidents to a specific group or state actor. One email reviewed by The Associated Press purported to come from an anti-feminist group targeting a “feminist regime,” but the sender’s identity remains unverified. EU officials will meet in Brussels next week to discuss security measures. Tzitzikostas emphasized that passenger safety and the smooth functioning of aviation remain the top priorities.
Robert Jordan, research director at the Royal United Services Institute, noted that secure messaging apps have increased anonymity for threat senders. He added that airlines maintain a low risk appetite, integrating threat response into standard safety and security procedures. Pilots are reviewing diversion protocols and carrying extra fuel, according to Paul Reuter of the European Cockpit Association.
