PARIS: Several commercial flights made unscheduled or high-alert landings in France, Italy, Belgium and Bulgaria this week, authorities said, following a series of bomb threats that have prompted diversions and major security mobilizations across Europe.
The first incident to become public occurred outside Paris on Thursday, when an Aer Lingus Airbus A320 flying from Dublin, Ireland, to Rome was diverted to the Evreux airbase west of Paris after a bomb threat. French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's office announced the diversion and said it was monitoring the situation "in real time."
Tracking websites showed the plane sharply deviating from its course while in Paris airspace and heading toward the more isolated airfield in Evreux. France's air force said it dispatched planes "as soon as the incident was reported."
"The aircraft has been diverted and is being escorted to Evreux airfield," the air force said. Lecornu's office later confirmed the plane had landed safely.
Similar reports soon followed. A flight from Finland landed in Rome as scheduled but with a military escort, and another landed in Brussels amid a security threat. Planes also made unscheduled landings in Bulgaria.
The incidents came after bomb threats were leveled against several European flights earlier in the week, prompting a series of similar unscheduled landings. Those threats turned out to be hoaxes but nonetheless caused diversions and large-scale security responses. In one case, the Italian air force escorted a plane to its emergency landing.
The threats targeted airlines including Poland's LOT, Scandinavian Airlines, Wizz Air and Ryanair.
It was not yet clear whether the aviation disruptions were linked to a series of apparent cyberattacks that coincided with them, targeting freezer units in major supermarkets and even French blood banks.
All the cases remain nascent, but they have the potential hallmarks of so-called hybrid attacks designed to cause maximum disruption with minimal effort and resources.
