ROME/BRUSSELS/EVREUX, France, Nov 5 (Reuters) - A series of hoax bomb threats hit European airlines from Ireland to Bulgaria on Thursday morning for the second time this week, with some of at least 25 affected flights making unplanned landings or escorted by fighter jets.
While no country has attributed blame for the threats, they come at a time when many European officials have accused Russia of masterminding sabotage and "hybrid attacks" — often cheap, easily deniable and not expected to trigger
an armed response.
Denmark, Poland and Romania, all affected by Thursday's disruptions, have previously accused Moscow directly, while Germany blamed Russia for an attack on Leipzig airport in August. Britain has blamed Russia in the past but linked Iran to a suspected plot to attack a US air base. Both Russia and Iran deny any involvement.
Eric Schouten, head of the aviation security group Dyami, said most of the countries affected supported Ukraine in its war against Russia's invasion.
"From a geopolitical view, I'm thinking, you always have to think about the scenario of hybrid warfare, where a country in this way — today we are looking at Russia, right? — is attacking us on multiple fronts, from railways to supermarkets to blood banks, most recently. The energy sector, the internet sector, and the aviation sector are among those," he said.
FLIGHTS TO MILAN, ROME, PARIS, PRAGUE, SOFIA AFFECTED
Bulgaria's air force said its fighter jets had escorted three airliners to the ground. Officials said that Ryanair planes from Copenhagen and Madrid to Sofia landed as planned while a flight from London to Sofia was diverted to Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second city.
Spanish authorities received three emailed bomb threats in under 20 minutes from around 9 a.m. (0800 GMT), involving two Air Europa departures from Madrid to Paris and four inbound Iberia flights from Rome and Milan, Spain's Guardia Civil said.
Several aircraft were halted or returned to their stands and passengers were disembarked while planes were inspected.
Two Easyjet flights from Britain, one flight from Ireland and one from Greece landed as scheduled in Prague after receiving bomb threats. Czech police said they had assessed the credibility of the threats as low.
Italy's air force escorted a Finnair plane coming from Helsinki to its scheduled landing in Rome, a person close to the matter said. Rome's airport operator said there had been no disruption to services.
Another Finnair flight from Helsinki, operated by Jettime, landed as normal in Vienna after receiving a bomb threat, Finnair said.
The Italian news agency ANSA said two planes had landed safely in Milan after receiving threats.
A LOT flight from Warsaw landed as scheduled in Brussels after a security warning, the Polish airline said. In Warsaw, a LOT flight to Paris was stopped as it was taxiing towards take-off and passengers were transferred to another aircraft as a precaution, it added.
CYBERATTACKS ON SUPERMARKETS AND BLOOD BANKS
A Wizz Air flight from Milan landed safely in Bucharest, Romania's intelligence agency said. Italian media reported that a Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw had been diverted to Vienna.
Aer Lingus flight EI402 from Dublin to Rome landed safely on Thursday at Evreux airport, 100 km (62 miles) west of Paris, the Irish airline said.
And in Denmark, a military bomb disposal unit searched two planes at Copenhagen airport, but did not find any devices, police said.
Eliran Almog, CEO of aviation cybersecurity firm Cyviation, said the repeated bomb threats could serve both to disrupt operations and to observe how airlines, airports and national authorities respond.
"These aviation threats are also occurring in the same period as cyberattacks on supermarket refrigeration systems across Europe," Almog said.
"Different essential services are experiencing disruption that carries economic costs and can undermine public confidence."
On Tuesday, at least seven flights and a cruise ship received bomb threats, causing disruption at airports across Europe, although no devices were discovered.
This week, unidentified hackers for the second time shut down fridges in supermarkets in several European countries, also affecting French blood banks.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Gareth Jones and Philippa Fletcher)
