Coordinated Bomb Hoax Campaign Targets European Airlines and Irish Media

European Flights Grounded in Coordinated Bomb Hoax Wave

At least 27 passenger flights across Europe suffered disruptions on November 5, 2026, when a wave of hoax bomb threats forced unplanned landings, emergency tarmac evacuations, and military jet interceptions. The Irish government stated that the threats, which also targeted Irish media outlets, formed part of a coordinated campaign of disruption.

France 24 reported that the email messages received by broadcasters and airlines carried an unusual level of specificity that set them apart from standard hoax threats.

Fighter Jets Intercept Flights as Threats Target Multiple Capitals

The disruptions unfolded rapidly across European airspace on Thursday. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s office in France stated that fighter jets intercepted an Aer Lingus flight traveling from Dublin to Rome, escorting it to an air force base at Evreux after the pilot did not cooperate with authorities as expected.

Bulgaria’s air force deployed fighter jets to ground three airliners, including a Ryanair flight from London to Sofia that diverted to Plovdiv. Spanish police reported three emailed threats arriving within a 20-minute window, affecting two Air Europa departures from Madrid to Paris and four inbound Iberia flights from Rome and Milan.

In Warsaw, a LOT flight bound for Paris was stopped as it taxied for take-off, and passengers were transferred to a replacement aircraft. Danish authorities searched two planes at Copenhagen airport following similar alerts. Additional services operated by EasyJet, Finnair, LOT, Wizz Air, Ryanair, and Air Serbia to Prague, Sofia, Vienna, Brussels, Bucharest, Rome, and Milan landed as scheduled, some after military escorts.

Airlines Receive Threats from Alleged Russian Extremist Group

State broadcaster RTÉ evacuated its staff in Ireland after receiving threats. Several Italian airlines and transport hubs, including Rome’s Fiumicino and Milan’s Malpensa airports, received emails claiming to originate from a Russian extremist group named the Fighters of the Male State. That group subsequently denied any involvement in the incident.

Airlines did not act on every alert indiscriminately. Joji Waites, director of flight safety for the British Airline Pilots’ Association, explained that commercial operators only initiate emergency protocols when security assessors deem a threat credible. Security analysts at Osprey Flight Solutions noted that a connection to ongoing hybrid campaigns in Europe remained a realistic probability, while cautioning that personal grievances and copycat actors could also account for the wave.

Investigators Trace Origins of Electronic Messages Across Europe

Investigators in Denmark, Poland, and Romania continue to trace the origins of the electronic messages. No country had formally attributed ultimate responsibility for the November 5 incidents, leaving open the question of who directed the operation and whether further disruptions would target European transport infrastructure.