Hoax Bomb Threats Disrupt European Flights and TV Channels for Third Day

A passenger aircraft at a European airport — Image via Wikimedia Commons.

A wave of hoax bomb threats has disrupted flights and television stations across Europe for a third day, forcing evacuations, flight diversions and programming blackouts — though no explosives have been found anywhere, according to Reuters and the Associated Press.

What happened on Friday

• Bomb threats warning "the clock is ticking" were emailed on Friday, November 6, to TV stations across Europe, prompting evacuations and suspended programming.
• Ireland's national broadcaster RTÉ evacuated its Dublin headquarters and replaced live programmes with music and pre-recorded messages for up to three hours.
• Britain's Sky News, Bulgaria's Nova TV, Virgin Media, Newstalk radio and the Irish Independent also received threats.
• The emails were titled "Message to the West" and signed with the name "Mikhail Andropov", claiming responsibility for the week's wave of hoaxes. Reuters said it could not identify the sender or confirm any link to the flight threats.

Flights also targeted

• The EU Transport Commissioner said 11 more flights were threatened on Friday, November 6.
• Eurocontrol, the European air traffic authority, said threats were made against 14 flights on Thursday and seven on Tuesday.
• Affected flights were diverted or given fighter-jet escorts, including a Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome that landed in Venice and a Ryanair flight from Lisbon to Rome. All planes landed safely.
• Czech police searched four planes that landed in Prague on Thursday and found nothing.

A week of disruption

The threats began on Tuesday, November 3, when at least seven flights and a cruise ship received hoax bomb warnings, triggering emergency landings and temporary airport closures in countries including Poland, Bulgaria, Italy and Spain. Aviation has had a difficult week across the continent.

Officials have not said who is behind the threats. Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin called the situation "worrying" and said European security agencies had not yet determined whether the threats were made by individuals or as part of a coordinated campaign. The EU has said it is too early to say whether the incidents are linked.

No injuries have been reported, and aviation authorities say the threat to air traffic safety remains low — but the repeated disruption has put airports, airlines and broadcasters across Europe on high alert.