False bomb alerts hit European air traffic for a third consecutive day, triggering military escorts, emergency diversions, and investigations into extremist messages.
ROME, Italy — Fighter jets from Italy, France, and Bulgaria were scrambled on Thursday after approximately 20 commercial flights were hit by hoax bomb threats, marking the third straight day of coordinated aviation disruption across Europe.
Three passenger aircraft were forced to divert, and at least five flights required military air escorts before touching down safely. Thorough security sweeps found no explosives on any of the inspected planes. The threats singled out budget airlines and routes serving Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Italy, though European aviation safety body Eurocontrol noted that the disrupted services formed a tiny fraction of the 25,072 flights scheduled across the continent on Thursday.
Emails received by airport authorities in Rome and Sofia carried misogynistic language and claimed responsibility under the name “fighters of the Male State.” A separate threat directed at Birmingham Airport in central England cited “Men’s State.”
“You are all accomplices in a criminal conspiracy and for this we want to annihilate you,” read the threat sent to Sofia Airport and reviewed by AFP. “We, fighters of the Male State, with our actions today will leave a mark in history. Your feminist regime will remember it forever. The explosion will occur in 60 minutes. Today your skies will turn red.”
Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera reported identical threats addressed to ADR, the operator running Rome’s airports, specifically naming two inbound flights.
Russia designated an extremist movement called Male State in 2021, though investigators have not established a direct link to the aviation hoaxes. Lou Osborn, founder of the clandestine Russian activity monitoring NGO Inpact, stated that the Russian group uses Nazi symbolism, claims thousands of members, and endorsed the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The disruption triggered sharp defense responses along several flight corridors:
- Bulgaria: Air force jets intercepted three Ryanair aircraft flying into Sofia from Madrid, Copenhagen, and London. An Interior Ministry spokesperson confirmed that inspections uncovered no explosives. A fourth Ryanair service from London to Sofia diverted to Plovdiv Airport.
- France: French fighter jets intercepted an Aer Lingus service bound from Dublin to Rome, forcing it down at the Evreux military base west of Paris. The French Prime Minister’s office stated that jets were scrambled after the pilot failed to cooperate as expected. Evreux prosecutor Remi Coutin noted the pilot had allegedly sought a civilian runway, while Aer Lingus stated that its crew “fully cooperated with the French authorities regarding this matter.”
- Austria: A Wizz Air service en route from Milan to Warsaw diverted to Vienna Airport.
Multiple flights reached their destinations without diversion, including four Prague-bound aircraft operated by Ryanair, easyJet, and Sky Express, alongside two services landing in Copenhagen. Danish police stated that passengers faced no actual danger. London’s Heathrow Airport evaluated a threat received on Thursday as not credible.
EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas stated on X that it remained too early to determine if the pattern of incidents was linked. The alerts follow threats against 10 flights on Tuesday, which shut a Warsaw airport and prompted Italian jet escorts, as well as a Monday incident where a London-to-Sofia Wizz Air flight made an emergency landing in Budapest.
