European Bomb Hoaxes Reach Sky and Bulgaria's Nova TV as Emails Reportedly Warn 'Only the Beginning'

Since hoax bomb threats began hitting European flights on Tuesday, Nov. 3, the campaign has spread beyond Dublin to other newsrooms and now comes with a message. Several European outlets, including some in Bulgaria, Ireland and the UK, have reported that a group claiming responsibility emailed them a warning of further attacks on transport across Europe. "This is only the beginning," the email reportedly said.

No explosives have been found on any aircraft or at any evacuated site.

Media outlets join the target list

Sky confirmed Friday, Nov. 6, that it was among the media organisations to receive a security threat. A Sky spokesperson said the company had carried out a security assessment and reported the matter to the relevant authorities. Reuters reported that Bulgaria's Nova TV was also targeted.

In Ireland, RTÉ resumed scheduled broadcasting after the evacuation of its Dublin headquarters. Taoiseach Micheál Martin told RTÉ Radio 1 the threats had to be taken seriously and were an effort to sow fear and anxiety.

"It shows how relatively simple it can be to cause disruption and undermine the normal operation of society," Martin said. He added that European security agencies would try to identify those responsible and hold them accountable.

The email and its signature

Reuters reported that one threatening email was signed by a person calling himself Mikhail Andropov, who claimed responsibility for the aviation threats. The sender's identity, where the emails came from and whether the incidents are connected have not been verified.

No government has named a culprit. Investigators have said there is no evidence that the hoaxes against airlines and other targets were orchestrated by a hostile terror group or a state actor such as Russia or Iran.

Friday's flight disruptions

At least 18 flights to or from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania and the UK were affected Friday. All landed safely and searches turned up no devices.

• Rome to Lisbon: A Ryanair flight was put on alert after an anonymous phone call to the Fiumicino control tower warned of a possible explosive device. It landed in Lisbon shortly before 8 a.m. CNN Portugal reported that Portugal's Public Security Police received a call from a person described as a law enforcement officer. The PSP has not confirmed the incident.
• Prague to Rome: A Wizz Air flight was diverted to Venice, where it landed.
• France: The prime minister's office said four more alerts concerned planes flying over French territory Friday morning. It said an investigation was underway into the source of alerts "affecting the whole of Europe."
• Hungary: Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said on Facebook that fighter jets were scrambled three times to escort civilian flights.
• Copenhagen: Police were again at the airport for a second consecutive day. Their "immediate assessment" was that there was no danger to passengers. Airport management said it was operating normally.

Czech police said they were investigating a threat to place an improvised device aboard a number of aircraft arriving at and departing from Prague. They said the impact on normal airport operations was minimal.

Scale

Eurocontrol data show 26,709 flights were scheduled across Europe on Friday. The 18 affected flights come to 0.0674% of that total.

The Guardian counted at least 35 flights diverted or searched across Tuesday and Thursday.

Are the incidents linked?

Officials disagree on how far to take the connection. EU officials have said it is too early to determine whether the incidents are linked.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said it was unclear whether the hoaxes and this week's cyber-attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems in at least seven European countries were "all connected." She added: "But they definitely all tell us the same thing: today, what is under attack are civilian infrastructures."

Spain has raised the possibility of hybrid aggression and psychological warfare, according to Reuters. A senior NATO military official said the alliance was monitoring the situation and working "closely with allies."

The hoaxes cost little to send and force expensive responses. Fighter jets, bomb disposal units and evacuated studios were all triggered by emails and phone calls.

Whether the "only the beginning" email is a genuine claim by an organised group or an attention grab by a copycat remains unanswered. Nor is it clear whether the same sender is behind both the flight threats and the newsroom threats. Martin said European security agencies are working on both.