Dublin-Rome flight diverted and Cork Airport receives bomb threat amid European hoax alerts

LAST UPDATE | 5 Nov

AN AER LINGUS passenger flight from Dublin to Rome was rerouted to France this morning after a hoax bomb threat, and a similar threat was called in for an unspecified flight at Cork Airport this morning.

Both flights landed safely.

However, the French public prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into the pilot of the Aer Lingus flight to Rome, who “allegedly refused” initially to land at a military base.

The incidents are just two of more than a dozen reported bomb threats on European passenger flights this morning.

In the UK, Heathrow and Birmingham airports received threats that were assessed as not credible.

It is understood that operations at both UK airports continued as normal.

The threats come just two days after some 10 European flights were targeted by bomb threats, forcing the brief closure of a Warsaw airport and the scrambling of air force planes in Rome, according to authorities.

In a statement to The Journal, an Aer Lingus spokesperson said that the Rome-bound flight EI402 “diverted to Normandy this morning as a security precaution”.

“The flight landed safely and Aer Lingus will work to reaccommodate customers to their final destination as soon as possible,” the spokesperson added.

According to FlightRadar 24, the flight, which left Dublin at 6.24am, was diverted to the 105 Évreux Air Base after squawking 7700, a code entered by aircraft to signal a general emergency to air traffic control.

Aer Lingus flight #EI402 (Dublin - Rome) is diverting to Evreux Fauville Air Base, with squawk 7700. https://t.co/acg3BCwzKM

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) November 5, 2026

The French public prosecutor’s office confirmed it was launching an investigation into the pilot of the Aer Lingus plane, who “allegedly refused” initially to land at the Évreux military base, “preferring a civilian airport”, after being diverted.

French fighters accompanied the Aer Lingus plane and forced it to land at the Evreux military base 100 kilometres west of Paris, the prime minister’s office said.

“Since the pilot did not cooperate as expected with authorities, the Prime Minister immediately ordered fighter jets to intercept the aircraft and escort it,” it added.

The Aer Lingus pilot had “allegedly refused” to land at the military base, “preferring a civilian airport”, Evreux prosecutor Remi Coutin told AFP.

Katie McAteer, who was on the flight to Rome, described the incident as “scary”.

“I think we were about an hour, an hour and 15 minutes in, and the pilot said that there was a problem with the plane and that we’d have to land in Paris,” McAteer told RTÉ Radio’s News at One.

“I’d known that there were similar threats happening to other airlines like the past couple of days, so that immediately came to my mind, and then we saw like a fighter pilot flying right beside the plane, so I think at that point we all kind of knew what was going on.

“A few minutes later, the pilot came back on again. He was a lovely guy, to be fair, very informative. He said that it doesn’t seem to be credible, but that the French Air Force have asked us to land in an airbase in France, so yeah, so we were up in the air for a good while circling and then we eventually landed.”

Graeme McQueen, head of communications with Dublin Airport operator DAA, said that Dublin airport is “operating as normal”.

“I think people would have woken up this morning and seen the news headlines about the threats that are being made to some airlines and airports around Europe, we had this earlier in the week as well, but you can see behind me, Dublin Airport is operating as normal today,” McQueen said.

“We have about 70,000 passengers going through, about 600 flights coming in and out, so it’s very much a normal day, passengers should continue to travel, arrive to the airport as normal, and expect to make your flight.”

The Aer Lingus aircraft pictured at Evreux military air base in France. Alamy Stock Photo

In a statement this afternoon, the Irish Air Line Pilots Association (IALPA) remarked that “any abnormal or unexpected event increases the workload in the cockpit, placing additional demands on pilots working in an already high-pressure environment”.

It added that pilots are “highly trained professionals, equipped to manage complex and high-pressure situations, including potential security threats”.

A spokesperson said IALPA will be liaising with both Aer Lingus and the Department of Transport over the incident.

Separately, Barry Holland, communications manager at Cork Airport, said that the site had received an “anonymous threat by phone this morning in relation to a specific flight”.

“Elevated additional security measures were adopted in conjunction with An Garda Síochána,” the spokesperson said.

“Nothing of concern was identified and the flight resumed operations with a 90-minute delay. The incident has been fully stood down.”

Europe alerts

Bomb alerts were also reported this morning on two Finnair flights (one travelling from Helsinki to Rome, and another flying from Helsinki to Vienna) and a Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw

Wizz Air confirmed in a statement that the flight was re-routed to Vienna.

The Helsinki-Rome flight was escorted to Rome by fighter jets and was checked by bomb disposal experts.

“The diversion was initiated in accordance with established security protocols and procedures, with the safety of passengers and crew as the highest priority,” a spokesperson said.

An LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw to Brussels was also impacted.

“The flight crew was informed of the situation and conducted an onboard security check in accordance with procedures. No suspicious items were identified during the check,” an LOT spokesperson told The Journal.

The aircraft landed at Brussels Airport, where authorities “carried out an additional security inspection”, the spokesperson added.

“This inspection also confirmed that no hazardous or suspicious items were found.”

Czech police said in a statement this morning that they received reports of the placement of “improvised explosive devices” on four unidentified aircraft heading to Prague.

“We are preparing with colleagues from Prague Airport for their landing. We assess the relevance of the threats as low,” the statement said.

In Bulgaria, three Ryanair flights were impacted by bomb threats this morning, according to local reporting. 

The flight arrival board pictured at Sofia's Vasil Levski Airport in Bulgaria today. Alamy Stock Photo

Two flights had been travelling to Sofia from Madrid and Copenhagen, with another flight from London diverted from Sofia to Plovdiv.

Elsewhere, two flights travelling to Milan were targeted, including a Ryanair flight from Porto and an Aegean Airlines flight from Thessaloniki.

Threats were directed at three flights linked to Madrid, although Spanish airport operator Aena declined to name the airlines or give other details on the flights. It was not immediately clear whether the three flights included Ryanair’s Madrid-Sofia flight.

On Tuesday, four Ryanair flights were among ten passenger planes affected by bomb threats across Europe, prompting evacuations, security checks and the deployment of fighter jets.

Two of the impacted Ryanair flights had left Dublin. 

All the impacted flights landed safely, and no bombs were found despite extensive searches.

The cause

No group has claimed responsibility for the widespread hoax threats yet.

EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said in a statement on X that it was not yet clear whether a spate of hoax bomb alerts targeting European flights were connected, and that EU officials were following events closely with national authorities.

“Any threats against civilians are unacceptable,” Tzitzikostas said, adding that it was “too early to draw conclusions on whether the reported incidents are linked.”

Italian news outlet Ansa shared a picture of an email reportedly received by Rome’s Fiumicino airport on the hoax threat.

The email was received this morning with the subject line: “threat notification”.

The warnings were signed on behalf of the supposed “Fighters of the Male State” claiming to be targeting a “feminist regime” and wanting to “make our mark on history”.

They threatened to “turn the skies red” with explosions.

Additional reporting from AFP and Press Association