Seven flights across Europe targeted by suspected bomb threats

Key points

• Seven passenger planes across Europe, including two from the UK, were inspected after suspected bomb threats.
• No explosives were found on any of the aircraft searched in Rome, Spain, Poland and Bulgaria.
• The UK government called the incidents "malicious hoax threats" and said its aviation security is robust.

Seven passenger planes across Europe, two of which departed from the UK, were inspected on Tuesday following a series of suspected bomb threats. No explosives were found on any of the aircraft.

Two Ryanair flights, one from Dublin and one from Lisbon, were searched after landing in Rome following anonymous tips, sources at Fiumicino airport told the BBC. The Dublin flight was escorted by the Italian Air Force until landing. Planes were also searched in Poland, Spain and Bulgaria.

Impact on travellers

A flight from London Heathrow to Warsaw was diverted to the smaller Modlin airport, briefly forcing its closure. A Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen to Warsaw-Chopin landed as planned.

A passenger on the Manchester to Murcia flight said she was not told anything during the flight and that the plane stopped suddenly, with passengers kept on the runway for around 30 minutes before fire engines and a bomb squad arrived and they were evacuated. The incidents came a day after a Wizz Air flight from London Luton made an emergency landing in Budapest following a bomb threat; Wizz Air said nothing was found.

It sounds like they've been made in a credible manner across a broad range of airlines

— aviation security expert Paul Mason