Another wave of hoax bomb threats targeted passenger flights and media newsrooms across Europe on Friday, November 6, 2026. European officials have described the situation as a coordinated campaign of “hybrid aggression” and psychological warfare, with some pointing to a potential connection to European support for Ukraine. No explosive devices have been found, and all affected aircraft have landed safely.
The European air traffic authority (Eurocontrol) noted that overall direct delays to aviation are relatively minimal compared to total network volume:
Hungarian military jets were scrambled three times today to escort civilian aircraft passing through its airspace. This included a Wizz Air flight traveling from Brussels to Sofia, and flights from Prague heading to Bucharest and Cyprus.
- A Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome was diverted to Venice, where passengers were evacuated and the plane was swept by security teams.
- A Ryanair flight from London to Sofia was forced to make an emergency landing in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
- A Ryanair flight from Lisbon to Rome was thoroughly assessed by authorities upon arrival.
- In Belgium, security protocols were triggered on a Ryanair flight from Pescara to Charleroi after the word “bomb” was discovered written inside an aircraft restroom.
- Prague Airport reported that at least nine flights were affected by false threats this morning. In Ireland, a flight from Cork Airport faced a 90-minute delay following a direct threat received by the airport operator.
- The French Prime Minister’s office confirmed that four distinct bomb threats were made against aircraft flying over French territory today, with targeted planes landing safely at Paris’ Orly Airport for inspections.
The disruption shifted beyond aviation as several major media newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria received emailed threats:
An email signed by a purported “Mikhail Andropov” was sent to Ireland’s public broadcaster RTÉ, leading to an immediate building evacuation and the temporary suspension of live programming. Similar emails forced the temporary evacuation of the Irish Independent newspaper, Dublin radio station NewstalkFM, and Bulgaria’s Nova TV. Sky News also reported receiving a security threat.
European cyber, aviation, and defense authorities are collaborating to trace the origin of the threats. While some messages on Thursday were signed by a radical Russian ultranationalist movement called the “Male State”, investigators emphasize that there is not yet definitive evidence pinning the hoaxes to a specific hostile state actor, though a coordinated campaign remains the primary focus of inquiries.
