An Aer Lingus flight travelling from Dublin to Rome was diverted to a French military airbase in Normandy on Thursday after a bomb alert, according to The Irish Times. The aircraft landed at Évreux airbase, and the office of French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu said the situation was being monitored.
The airline confirmed the diversion in a statement, describing it as a security precaution. Aer Lingus said the flight, EI402, touched down safely and that it would work to get passengers to their final destination as soon as possible.
According to Lecornu's office, the 151 passengers and six crew members on board were brought to a safe location once the plane was on the ground.
Why it matters
The diversion was not an isolated case. Thursday brought reports of bomb threats affecting commercial flights in several European countries, the second such wave this week. Two days earlier, seven aircraft around Europe were searched or diverted after hoax alerts, including two Ryanair flights that had departed from Dublin.
The recurrence has drawn attention from governments already contending with what officials describe as hybrid attacks and sabotage on European soil. No country has publicly blamed anyone for the threats, and no link between the incidents has been established.
How the flight unfolded
The Aer Lingus jet followed its normal route across the English Channel toward Rome before turning southwest of Paris, circling near Chartres and then heading for Évreux, The Irish Times reports.
French newspaper Le Figaro reported that a Rafale fighter jet accompanied the airliner as it approached the airbase. According to The Irish Times, the bomb threat is reported to have originated with Italian authorities.
Disruption reported in several countries
Belgian media reported that an aircraft forced to land at Brussels' Zaventem airport belonged to the Polish carrier Lot. A Finnair plane flying from Helsinki was escorted to its scheduled landing in Rome by the Italian air force, a source close to the matter said.
Bulgarian officials reported three aircraft making emergency landings because of bomb threats. The interior minister said planes arriving from Copenhagen and Madrid landed in Sofia, according to broadcaster bTV, while local media reported that a third aircraft, from London, landed in Plovdiv.
The Guardian reported that multiple planes were diverted as bomb threats to commercial flights were logged across Europe, and the BBC noted that European flights had faced such threats for the second time this week. RTÉ also examined which airlines had been affected.
A pattern of low-cost disruption
The threats arrive at a moment when European officials have accused Russia and Iran of carrying out what they call hybrid attacks and acts of sabotage. Both Moscow and Tehran deny any such campaign.
Earlier this week, unidentified hackers disabled refrigeration units in supermarkets in several European countries. Some experts suggested that hoax bomb threats could fit a similar pattern of disruption that is cheap to carry out and hard to attribute.
For airlines, each alert carries real costs: diversions, fighter escorts, searches and rebooking, along with the disruption to hundreds of passengers whose plans are altered with little warning.
Aer Lingus has said only that it will reaccommodate customers. French authorities have not released further details about the threat itself.
What to watch: whether investigators identify a source for Thursday's alerts, and whether European carriers and airports adjust security procedures if the threats continue.
