Bomb threat diverts Dublin-Rome flight to France

Al Jazeera Staff

An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to Evreux airfield west of Paris on Thursday after a suspected bomb threat, escorted by French military aircraft, with all 151 passengers and six crew moved to safety. Bulgaria separately reported three aircraft requesting emergency landings over bomb threats, amid a string of hoax or unconfirmed threats disrupting European air travel, including earlier incidents involving Warsaw and a Ryanair flight into Rome. No group has claimed responsibility and officials have not attributed blame.

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An airliner flying from Dublin to Rome has been rerouted to France, where it was escorted by military aircraft after a suspected bomb threat, French authorities said.

In a separate incident, Bulgaria reported that three aircrafts requested emergency landings due to bomb threats on Thursday, according to local media.

France’s air force said it had dispatched planes “as soon as the threat was reported” on Thursday.

“The aircraft has been diverted and is being escorted to the Evreux airfield” west of Paris, it added.

The office of Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said a bomb squad was in place at the airport and that 151 Aer Lingus passengers and six crew were moved to safety.

No one claimed responsibility, and officials did not attribute blame.

According ⁠to flight-tracking website ⁠Flightradar24, the aircraft turned near Paris and was circling over ⁠the Evreux area after declaring an in-flight ⁠emergency.

The incident came after several European flights were targeted by bomb threats on Tuesday, prompting emergency searches, briefly shut down an airport outside the Polish capital, Warsaw, and led the Italian Air Force to escort a Ryanair plane into Rome.

More to come…