At least a dozen commercial flights made unscheduled or high-alert landings across Europe after bomb or security threats, according to authorities in Austria, France, Italy, Belgium, Czechia, Spain, Serbia and Bulgaria, DW reports.
The first reported case involved an Aer Lingus Airbus A320 flying from Dublin to Rome. French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's office said the plane was diverted to the Evreux airbase west of Paris after a bomb threat, and it landed safely. France's air force said it dispatched planes "as soon as the incident was reported."
Other flights made unscheduled landings in Vienna, Austria, and in Bulgaria. A flight from Finland landed as scheduled in Rome but with a military escort. Other aircraft reached their scheduled destinations amid security alerts.
Earlier this week, threats against flights operated by LOT, Scandinavian Airlines, Wizz Air and Ryanair led to similar diversions. The report says those threats turned out to be hoaxes. In one case, the Italian air force escorted a plane to an emergency landing.
EU Commissioner for Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas wrote online that threats against civilians are unacceptable. He also said, "It is too early to draw conclusions on whether the reported incidents are linked. National investigations remain ongoing."
The report notes that the aviation disruptions coincided with apparent cyberattacks on freezer units in major supermarkets and French blood banks. It says it is not yet clear whether the events are connected. DW reports that preliminary information shows no sign of dangerous materials in Thursday's threats.