KABUL (Pajhwok): Several passenger flights operated by different airlines were diverted or disrupted by bomb threats across Europe on Thursday, with all the affected aircraft landing safely, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
An Aer Lingus flight travelling from Dublin to Rome was diverted to a military airbase in western France following a bomb threat, the report said.
The aircraft landed safely at Évreux airbase in Normandy, according to the office of French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. All 151 passengers and six crew members were safe, while military bomb disposal teams were examining the plane.
Meanwhile, Finnair flight AY1761 from Helsinki to Rome also received a bomb threat but landed normally in the Italian capital. A subsequent search found nothing unusual on board, according to the report.
Three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, were also affected by bomb threats.
Two of the aircraft, travelling from Copenhagen and Madrid, landed safely at Sofia’s Vasil Levski Airport, the AP reported, citing airport officials.
The third flight, which had departed from London Stansted Airport, was diverted to Plovdiv Airport in Bulgaria and landed safely, the report said.
Editorial note: I used “diverted or disrupted” rather than saying all the aircraft made emergency landings, because the Finnair flight landed at its scheduled destination and the London-Sofia Ryanair flight was diverted to Plovdiv.
hz/sa
