New wave of bomb threats hits passenger flights across Europe

PARIS: A plane heading from Dublin to Rome was rerouted to France on Thursday (Nov 5) after a bomb threat, the French government said.

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.

The incident 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.