Hoax bomb threats disrupted at least 27 European flights on Thursday, November 5, according to a Reuters tally cited by CNBC. Some aircraft diverted for security checks, while others were escorted by military jets; inspections found no explosives, but responsibility for the threats—and whether all were connected—remained unclear.
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What happened to the affected flights?
The response varied by flight: some aircraft made unplanned landings, others continued to their destinations under military escort, and crews and authorities carried out security inspections.
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- Aer Lingus: Flight EI402, traveling from Dublin to Rome, diverted to Évreux military air base in Normandy. It landed safely, and all 151 passengers and six crew members were safe while bomb-disposal teams examined the aircraft.
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- Ryanair: Three Sofia-bound flights from Madrid, Copenhagen and London Stansted received threats. Bulgarian fighter jets escorted them, and inspections found no explosives.
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- Finnair: The airline said threats affected flights from Helsinki to Rome and Vienna. Italian fighter jets escorted the Rome-bound flight, which continued to Rome; the threats were reported as false.
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- Wizz Air: A flight from Milan to Warsaw was rerouted to Vienna, according to reporting from TheJournal.ie.
Reports also described threats affecting other flights and airports, but the available reporting does not establish the details of every incident or verify specific disruption claims involving Air Europa or Iberia.
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Why was the Aer Lingus flight taken to Évreux?
French authorities said the flight was diverted after a bomb threat. French military aircraft escorted it to the base, where it landed safely and was inspected.
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French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s office said the aircraft was intercepted because the pilot “didn’t cooperate as expected with the authorities.” The regional prosecutor said the pilot and co-pilot were questioned. A separate report alleged that the pilot had initially refused to land, but the available accounts do not provide enough detail to independently establish exactly what happened in the cockpit or why the crew acted as they did.
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The sources confirm that passengers and crew were safe, but do not provide a detailed account of their experience during the diversion and inspection.
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What did the threats say—and who was behind them?
AFP reported that messages sent to airports in Rome and Sofia contained misogynistic language and claimed to come from “fighters of the Male State.” A Reuters report said an email claimed devices had been placed on flights arriving from Helsinki and Dublin and would explode in 60 minutes.
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The name resembles that of a Russian anti-feminist movement described in reporting as banned in Russia and designated extremist there in 2021. But a name written in a threat does not establish who sent it: the available reports do not verify that the movement or its members authored the messages. Reporting said the perpetrators and any connection between the incidents remained unknown.
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UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander called the threats “malicious hoax threats.” EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said the threats were unacceptable, but that it was too early to conclude whether the incidents were linked.
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A second wave of disruption, with differing flight counts
The November 5 alerts followed other threats earlier in the week. Euronews reported that about 27 flights were targeted on Tuesday and that a Warsaw airport was briefly closed.
19 The supplied reporting does not establish the details of a reported Monday diversion to Budapest.
Published totals for November 5 vary: some reports counted more than a dozen flights, while Reuters, CNBC and RTÉ reported at least 27. These are differing reported counts rather than a reconciled, independently verified total.
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The clearest conclusion is that the threats caused significant disruption and triggered precautionary responses, but inspections reported no explosives. Authorities had not identified who sent the threats or established whether the incidents were coordinated.
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