Aer Lingus jet lands at French military base after bomb threat
The diversion follows a wave of coordinated alerts that forced multiple aircraft across Europe to make emergency landings this week.
By Nikolai Morales ·
An Aer Lingus Airbus A320 departed from Dublin with its destination set for Rome but diverted to a French military installation after receiving a bomb threat. The aircraft landed at Evreux airbase in Normandy on Thursday, according to the office of French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 showed the plane turning near Paris and circling over the Evreux region after declaring an in-flight emergency.
The incident adds to a growing list of disruptions affecting European air travel. Authorities reported that approximately 10 flights faced similar threats on Tuesday. Those alerts forced the temporary closure of a Warsaw airport and prompted Italian Air Force jets to scramble in Rome. No explosive devices were found on the aircraft involved in the earlier incidents.
Belgian media identified one of the planes that made an emergency landing at Brussels Zaventem airport as belonging to Polish carrier LOT. In a separate event, a Finnair jet traveling from Helsinki was escorted to its scheduled arrival in Rome by Italian military aircraft. A source close to the matter confirmed the airliner landed safely.
Bulgarian officials reported that three other aircraft made emergency landings due to bomb threats on Thursday. The interior minister stated that planes originating from Copenhagen and Madrid landed in Sofia. Local media reported that a third aircraft, arriving from London, landed in Plovdiv.
European officials have not publicly blamed any specific country for the series of threats. However, government figures have previously cited Russia and Iran as potential actors behind what they described as hybrid attacks and sabotage operations. Both Moscow and Tehran have denied conducting such a campaign. The threats come amid a pattern of low-cost disruption efforts, including recent hacks that shut down refrigeration units in supermarkets across several European nations.
The prime minister's office in France said it was monitoring the situation at Evreux but released no further details immediately after the landing. The flight represented the latest interruption in a week where no passengers or crew were reported injured during the various diversions and emergency landings.
