On 5 November 2026, at least 27 passenger flights across Europe received fake reports of explosive devices on board. This was the second major wave of such threats in a week. Some aircraft made emergency landings, while others flew under fighter-jet escort. No explosives were found on any of the planes that were searched.
The highest number of incidents affected flights linked to Ireland and Bulgaria, although the threats spread much more widely — to routes involving Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland, Finland, Romania, Austria and other countries. Affected carriers included Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Wizz Air, Finnair, LOT, EasyJet and others.
One of the most notable cases was an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome: the aircraft, carrying roughly 151 passengers and six crew members, was diverted to the French military air base at Évreux under fighter escort. A Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome was escorted by the Italian Air Force. Three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia (from Madrid, Copenhagen and London Stansted) landed at Bulgarian airports — two in the capital and one in Plovdiv — under Bulgarian fighter escort. A Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw landed in Vienna. Four aircraft were checked in Prague, and several more in Spain. All landings were completed safely and no passengers were harmed.
Similar false threats had already been recorded earlier in the week: around seven flights were affected on 3 November, and one more the day before. British authorities described the incidents as “malicious hoax threats.” According to several sources, the messages arrived by email. In some cases the name of the group “Male State” — a Russian far-right movement banned in Russia — appeared, along with threats to “paint the sky red.” The authenticity and full scale of these claims have not been officially confirmed.
No country has officially claimed responsibility. European officials in various countries, including Denmark, Poland and Romania, have previously linked such low-cost, hard-to-attribute actions to hybrid attacks and sabotage by Russia. Brussels and national authorities still describe conclusions about coordination as premature, but note that such threats generate significant operational costs for airlines and security services while carrying little risk for the senders.
Police and counter-terrorism units in several countries are conducting investigations. Airports and airlines are gradually returning to normal operations.
