France records four false bomb threats on planes amid European wave

The office of the French Prime Minister announced today, Friday, the recording of four new bomb threats targeting aircraft flying over French airspace and territory.

Authorities clarified that the affected planes landed safely at their destinations or alternate airports, while inspection operations by explosive ordnance disposal teams continue, with an investigation opened to determine the source of the reports within the framework of the wider wave experienced by Europe since the beginning of the week.

Europe has witnessed a series of false threats that disrupted air traffic across the continent over the past few days, without finding any explosive materials in any of the confirmed cases.

The wave began on Monday with the diversion of a Wizz Air flight from London Luton Airport to Sofia, where it made an emergency landing in Budapest.

On Tuesday, reports targeted at least seven to ten commercial flights as well as a cruise ship, leading to the temporary closure of Warsaw-Modlin Airport and security interventions in several countries, all ending without the discovery of devices.

Disruptions peaked yesterday, Thursday, affecting between 12 and 27 flights or more across the continent, including airlines such as Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Finnair, easyJet, Wizz Air, and LOT.

The most prominent incident was the diversion of Aer Lingus flight EI402 from Dublin to Rome, which landed at Evreux military base west of Paris under escort by French Rafale and Mirage 2000 fighter jets, after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu ordered interception due to what authorities described as the pilot's lack of cooperation as expected.

Bulgarian fighters also escorted three Ryanair flights heading to Sofia, and four planes were inspected in Prague, with other reports in Italy, Spain, Poland, and Austria.

No explosives were found in any of them, although some emails directed to Rome and Sofia airports bore the signature of a group calling itself "Male State Fighters," a far-right Russian nationalist movement whose founder denied any connection.

European authorities confirmed that all reports so far have been hoaxes and represent a tiny fraction of tens of thousands of daily flights.

The repetition and focus on low-cost airlines and routes towards Central and Southern Europe raised concerns about coordinated disruption campaigns, which may fall under what experts describe as "hybrid warfare," without officially identifying a responsible party.