Bomb alerts force flights to land in France, Bulgaria, Belgium

PARIS: Bomb threats forced airliners to make unplanned landings across Europe on Thursday (Nov 5) morning, the latest in a series of threats targeting flights in Europe.

Aer Lingus flight EI402 from Dublin to Rome landed safely at Evreux airport, 100km west of Paris, after being diverted as a security precaution, the Irish airline said in a statement.

Quoting the office of French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, Reuters reported that the Airbus A320 plane was diverted to France's Evreux airbase.

The situation is being monitored by the Prime Minister's office, it added.

According to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, an Aer Lingus aircraft turned near Paris and was circling over the Evreux area after declaring an in-flight emergency.

France's air force said it had dispatched planes "as soon as the threat was reported", AFP reported. 

"The aircraft has been diverted and is being escorted to the Evreux airfield" west of Paris, it added.

A Finnair flight from Helsinki, operated by charter airline Jettime, on Thursday landed as normal in Vienna after receiving a bomb threat, a spokesperson for the Finnish carrier said.

Finnair earlier said that another Finnair flight to Rome had landed after receiving a bomb threat, Reuters reported.

Reuters, citing a source, reported that a flight operated by Polish airline LOT flying from Warsaw landed safely at Brussels Airport following a suspicious report.

A spokesperson for the airport told Belgian media that no additional security measures were necessary.

The airport did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The string of incidents comes after about 10 European flights were targeted by bomb threats on Tuesday, forcing the brief closure of a Warsaw airport and the scrambling of air force planes in Rome, according to authorities.

No explosives were found in the earlier incidents, despite extensive searches on the ground after the planes all took off and landed safely in different European cities just several hours apart, AFP reported. 

Irish budget carrier Ryanair appeared to be the worst hit, with four of its flights to different destinations being targeted.

Two bomb warnings targeted planes heading to the Polish capital Warsaw, including an SAS Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen and one from Heathrow operated by Polish airline LOT, Polish airport authorities said.