A new series of bomb threats targeting flights to and from Britain plunged European air travel into disruption again on Friday, marking the third day of aviation chaos this week.
At least nine flights arriving at or departing from Prague Airport were affected, one day after hoax warnings disrupted at least 27 flights across Europe.
“The threats concern incoming flights from Denmark, Spain and Great Britain. Outgoing flights are those bound for the Netherlands, Cyprus, Romania, Italy and Great Britain,” airport spokeswoman Denisa Hejtmankova said.
Danish police also launched an investigation on Friday after threats were directed at air traffic around Copenhagen Airport.
Authorities said their initial assessment indicated there was no immediate danger to passengers.
“We are once again at Copenhagen Airport today in connection with threats directed at air traffic,” police said in a statement. Officers were investigating the incident and maintaining a visible presence at the airport, they added.
A bomb warning was also reported aboard a Ryanair flight from Rome after it landed in Lisbon, while the French Prime Minister’s office confirmed that four aircraft flying over France had been targeted.
In Ireland, a bomb threat sent to the offices of broadcaster RTE in Dublin was later declared a hoax.
An RTE radio reporter said normal programming resumed from an outside broadcast unit after an email, sent shortly before 9am, warned that a bomb would explode within 45 minutes.
Flights and locations targeted include:
- Police presence at Copenhagen Airport after “threats directed at air traffic.”
- Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome, diverted to Vienna
- Ryanair flight from Rome to Lisbon, which landed safely
- Four aircraft flying over France, all of which landed safely
- Four inbound and five outbound flights at Prague Airport, including services to and from the UK
- RTE offices in Dublin
Police officers at Copenhagen Airport on November 6, 2026
People were evacuated from RTE’s Dublin studios after a hoax bomb warning
Passengers wait for a train at Copenhagen Airport while police investigate threats against air traffic
The presenter of RTE Radio One’s mid-morning news programme said he understood the email had supposedly come from the same people linked to hoax bomb threats that disrupted dozens of European passenger flights on Thursday.
“It is worrying, and we take the threat seriously,” Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin told RTE by telephone shortly after the broadcaster’s programming resumed following an interruption of more than an hour.
“It just illustrates how relatively simple it can be to cause disruption and undermine the normal operation of society through unconventional activities of this kind, designed to create fear and anxiety. We have to remain calm and very focused on this.”
Authorities have not established whether the warning sent to RTE was connected to the aviation threats reported across Europe this week.
The broadcaster’s south Dublin campus remained closed as police searched the building room by room, according to the reporter.
The latest incidents follow a series of bomb warnings that have disrupted flights across Europe, prompting diversions, emergency landings and security inspections. No explosives have been discovered so far.
At least 27 flights were affected on Thursday, including several services operating from the UK.
A Ryanair aircraft flying from London to Bulgaria was among the planes targeted. Several aircraft were escorted by fighter jets as they were diverted around the continent, while bomb disposal teams inspected planes after they landed.
An Aer Lingus service from Dublin to Rome was also diverted to France, while two flights heading to Prague from Newcastle and Glasgow were targeted by bomb threats. Both aircraft later landed safely.
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In Britain, Heathrow and Birmingham airports said they had received threats early in the day. The warnings were subsequently dealt with, and flights continued operating normally.
Heathrow described the malicious warnings as non-credible hoaxes, according to The Times.
No government has publicly assigned responsibility for the threats. However, they come as European officials increasingly accuse Russia and Iran of involvement in “hybrid attacks” and sabotage operations.
Other affected services included a Helsinki-to-Rome flight, which was escorted safely to Rome’s Fiumicino Airport by Italian air force jets.
A Finnair flight from Helsinki to Vienna landed normally despite receiving a bomb warning.
A bomb alert was also reported aboard a Wizz Air service from Milan to Warsaw, which diverted to Vienna, as well as on a LOT Polish Airlines flight travelling from Warsaw to Brussels.
A Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome was diverted to Venice on Friday (File picture)
An Aegean Airlines aircraft from Thessaloniki and a Ryanair service from Porto, both bound for Milan, reached their destinations safely after bomb warnings were received.
Another Finnair flight to Rome also landed safely after being targeted by a bomb threat.
Officials in Rome said the hoax warnings were sent by email with the subject line “Threat Notification”.
The messages were reportedly signed in the name of a group calling itself the “Fighters of the Male State”. The group claimed it was targeting a “feminist regime” and wanted to “make our mark on history”, according to the BBC, citing Italian authorities. The emails threatened to “turn the sky red” with explosions.
The “Fighters of the Male State” is a far-right movement originating in Russia that promotes extreme misogyny, white nationalism and anti-LGBT views.
Later, three aircraft were directed to land at airports in Bulgaria after bomb threats were reported.
Two planes, arriving from Copenhagen and Madrid, landed in Sofia, while a third aircraft flying from London touched down in Plovdiv.
Polish carrier LOT said a Warsaw-to-Brussels flight landed safely after a security warning, with no confirmed threat found.
Czech police said four aircraft bound for Prague received bomb threats on Thursday.
Local media reported that two of those flights originated in the UK, while the others came from Greece and Ireland.
A Finnair flight from Helsinki, operated by Jettime, also landed as scheduled in Vienna on Thursday despite receiving a bomb warning, a spokesman for the Finnish airline said.
Romania’s intelligence agency said another Wizz Air service, travelling from Milan to Bucharest, was targeted by a bomb threat.
Security specialists said Thursday that the warnings bore the signs of a coordinated “hybrid attack”. However, they cautioned that some incidents could have been copycat threats or the work of individuals acting out of personal grievances.
Although no nation has been officially blamed, the threats follow a series of sabotage attempts and attacks across Europe. Targets have reportedly included German electricity substations, defence-related sites in the Baltic region, supermarket refrigeration units in France and elsewhere, and Leipzig Airport in Germany.
Several officials have connected the wider campaign to Europe’s support for Ukraine during Russia’s invasion. They have accused Moscow of orchestrating “hybrid” disruption operations that are inexpensive to carry out, difficult to attribute and unlikely to provoke a direct military response.