Update · 6 Nov 2026, 9:25 PM PKT: At least 18 flights in nine countries were affected by a fresh wave of bomb threats, including flights to or from the United Kingdom.
Searches found no explosive devices, and all the affected planes landed safely.
A new series of bomb threats forced more flights to divert across Europe on Friday, and the hoaxes also spread to media organisations. Sky said it was among several newsrooms that received a threat, and said it had carried out a security assessment and alerted the relevant authorities.
Bulgaria’s Nova TV and Ireland’s public broadcaster RTE received emailed threats from a sender calling himself “Mikhail Andropov”. The message, headlined “Message to the West”, presented the threats as a prelude to further disruption across Europe.
Irish broadcaster evacuates staff after threat email
RTE briefly evacuated staff in Dublin, including radio and television presenters, after an email arrived on Friday morning. RTE Radio One presenter David McCullagh later told listeners that the message warned a bomb would explode within 45 minutes.
Also read: Bomb threat alerts hit two passenger planes bound for Warsaw
The Irish government said hoax bomb claims had also been sent to Virgin Media, Newstalk radio and The Irish Independent newspaper. It said it was unclear who was responsible, but that the timing suggested a likely coordinated campaign of disruption.
Jets escort airliners as flights are disrupted
The latest threats followed hoaxes on Thursday that disrupted more than two dozen flights across Europe, as well as earlier alerts sent to other aircraft and a cruise ship. About half a dozen flights had been disrupted on Tuesday, with some making unplanned landings or being escorted by fighter jets.
Hungarian Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said jets escorted airliners flying from Brussels to Sofia, and from Prague to Bucharest and Cyprus, through Hungarian airspace on Friday. He also said NATO had ordered an air patrol near the Hungarian-Romanian border, the first report that the Western defence alliance had become involved.
France said four new threats were made against aircraft flying over its territory, and all of those flights landed safely. One report said a Ryanair flight from Rome landed as scheduled in Lisbon.
Airports in Denmark and Czechia report limited impact
Danish police said the threats were directed at traffic at Copenhagen airport, but there appeared to be no danger to passengers. The airport said it was operating normally.
Czech police recorded bomb threats against nine flights departing from or arriving in Prague. An airport spokesperson said no flights had been cancelled as a result.
Correspondent Frances Read, reporting from London, said the threats had not been credible so far, but that disruption appeared to be widening. She said the number of hoaxes that week was prompting governments to consider where they might be coming from and how to respond.
