A wave of hoax bomb threats struck European flights and media outlets on Friday, forcing diversions and evacuations across the continent this week.
Eurocontrol reported threats against 14 flights on Thursday and seven on Tuesday, while EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said 11 more occurred on Friday. Three broadcasters—Ireland's RTE, Britain's Sky and Bulgaria's Nova TV—received emailed threats that forced RTE to air music for three hours and evacuated Nova TV's newsroom. No explosives were found on any aircraft or at any media office.
The threats disrupted flights across at least seven countries. In Hungary, fighter jets escorted three passenger planes through the country's airspace within an hour. An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to a military air base in Évreux, France, after French warplanes escorted it down. A Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome landed in Venice, where passengers were evacuated. Nine affected flights used Prague's Václav Havel Airport.
The emails to broadcasters were signed by someone calling himself Mikhail Andropov. The name is a likely reference to the Soviet leader Yuri Andropov. The subject line read "MESSAGE TO THE WEST." The sender claimed responsibility for the airline threats. He warned: "The clock is ticking. But this is only the beginning. What happened this week is just a small part of what awaits Europe in the near future."
Ireland's government said the threats were likely part of a "coordinated campaign of disruption." Spanish Foreign Minister Manuel Albares described the wave as a hybrid attack on European democracy that was "clearly not a coincidence." EU officials have not linked the incidents to any specific group, though some emails referenced the Russian extremist group "Fighters of the Male State," whose founder denied involvement.
Airlines must treat every threat seriously because they are responsible for passenger safety, said Robert Jordan, research director at Britain's Royal United Services Institute. He noted that secure messaging apps have made threats easier to send anonymously. "The risk appetite for airlines is always going to be incredibly low," he said. Tzitzikostas said security experts will meet in Brussels next week to discuss countermeasures.
Eurocontrol said it was monitoring the situation and working with airlines to mitigate disruption. Czech police said security measures at Prague airport had a "minimal impact on normal operations." Diverting and inspecting flights is costly, said Torstein Nymoen, a Norwegian traveler at Prague airport: "It must cost a lot for the companies."
