Bomb threats hit three Sofia flights amid European alert

• A commercial flight traveling from Dublin to Rome was diverted and made an emergency landing at a French military air base following a separate security alert
• The incidents follow a wave of similar alerts on Wednesday that saw at least seven commercial aircraft inspected across Europe

Bulgaria's Ministry of Transport said that three passenger flights operated by budget carrier Ryanair bound for the capital, Sofia, received security threats during flight operations on Thursday morning, as stated by Bulgarian news agency NOVA.

Two of the affected aircraft, inbound from Copenhagen and Madrid, touched down as scheduled at Sofia Airport.

A third flight originating from London was diverted mid-route and made a safe landing at Plovdiv Airport in southern Bulgaria, where specialized security services initiated containment and search protocols.

Simultaneously, international aviation monitors and news agencies reported that a flight traveling from Dublin to Rome was forced to divert mid-flight following a bomb threat, touching down at a military air base in France.

Thursday’s alerts follow widespread disruptions across European airspace on Wednesday, when bomb warnings against at least seven airliners triggered inspections, airport closures, and military escort scrambles across several countries.

Among the flights targeted on Wednesday were two arrivals in the Bulgarian capital: a flight from Bergamo carrying 176 passengers and seven crew members, which landed at 11:13 a.m. local time, and a flight from Dublin with 186 passengers and six crew members, which touched down at 1:36 p.m. at Vasil Levski Airport. Security and counter-terrorism teams conducted extensive inspections of the aircraft, passengers, and dozens of checked baggage pieces, finding no explosives or hazardous materials on board.

European civil aviation authorities and police agencies have initiated multi-jurisdictional reviews to determine whether the consecutive waves of threats constitute coordinated hoaxes intended to disrupt commercial airline operations.