An Aer Lingus flight bound for Italy was diverted to France on Thursday after authorities received a bomb threat, just days after a wave of hoax alerts disrupted air travel across Europe.
The office of French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu confirmed the incident and said officials were monitoring the situation.
Flight EI420 departed Dublin Airport at 6.20am, heading for Rome Fiumicino Airport. Approximately 90 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft transmitted squawk code 7700, the internationally recognised signal for a general emergency.
The Airbus A320 was later escorted by fighter jets and diverted to Evreux airbase in Normandy, France.
A passenger on board told Our News Outlet she became “panicked” and began “reading the Bible” as the drama unfolded.
The passenger, who asked not to be named, said the pilot initially told travellers there was a technical issue. After landing, however, passengers were informed that the aircraft had been subject to a “security threat” which had been assessed as not credible.
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An Airbus A320 Aer Lingus plane going from Dublin to Rome has been diverted to France’s Evreux airbase following a bomb alert
The diversion follows a series of incidents on Tuesday, when at least seven flights were targeted by bomb hoaxes. Several aircraft were forced to change course or undergo security checks after landing, while an Italian fighter jet accompanied a Ryanair service travelling from Dublin to Rome.
Two of the affected aircraft had departed from the UK before making unscheduled landings in response to the mid-air security alerts.
At Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, bomb disposal teams searched two Ryanair aircraft—one arriving from Lisbon and another from Dublin—after anonymous warnings alleged that bombs might be on board.
Alerts were also reported on a British Airways flight from Heathrow to Warsaw and a Ryanair service travelling from Manchester to Murcia in southern Spain.
Meanwhile, flights from Copenhagen to Warsaw and Bergamo to Sofia were grounded after receiving similar threats.
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A Ryanair aircraft flying from Dublin to Sofia, carrying 185 passengers, was also subjected to a security search after a warning was received.
The latest incidents came after a Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Bulgaria was threatened on Monday and escorted by a fighter jet.
A LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 left London Heathrow for Warsaw Chopin Airport on Tuesday morning but was diverted to Warsaw Modlin after an alert was issued at 9.54am local time. The plane landed safely at 10.01am.
There were 181 people on board, including several Jewish schoolchildren from the Jews’ Free School (JFS) in north-west London, Our News Outlet understands.
The teenagers, aged 16 and 17, had been visiting the former Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz, Treblinka and Majdanek as part of a Holocaust education trip. Millions of Jewish people were murdered by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
One mother said her 16-year-old son sent her a message to say that his flight had been diverted.
Spanish officials confirmed a Ryanair plane from Manchester to Murcia airport in southern Spain came under threat
Passengers in Murcia airport following the bomb alert
“In that moment I felt absolute panic and ran away from my desk to try to get hold of him,” she told The Telegraph.
Spanish officials confirmed that the Ryanair flight from Manchester to Murcia had been targeted, while Bulgarian media reported that a flight from Bergamo was held on the ground in Sofia after an alleged bomb threat was sent by email.
The Bergamo service was operated by Wizz Air and had 176 passengers on board. Earlier reports in Bulgarian media said the aircraft had arrived from Israel.
A further threat was reported on an SAS flight travelling from Copenhagen to Warsaw. The aircraft landed at Chopin Airport and was undergoing security checks.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
