Bomb alerts force flights to land in France, Bulgaria, Belgium

Bomb threats ‌forced airliners to ​make unplanned landings across Europe on Thursday morning, the latest in a series of threats targeting flights ‌in Europe.

Aer Lingus flight EI402 from Dublin to Rome landed safely at Evreux airport, 100 km west of Paris, after being diverted as a security precaution, the Irish ‌airline said in a statement. Belgian media reported that an airliner forced to ‌land at Brussels' Zaventem airport belonged to the Polish airline LOT.

A Finnair plane from Helsinki was safely escorted to its scheduled landing in Rome by the Italian air force, a source close to ⁠the matter ​said. Bulgarian officials reported ⁠three aircraft making emergency landings because of bomb threats.

Airplanes flying from Copenhagen and Madrid landed in Sofia, ⁠the interior minister said, according to broadcaster bTV. A third aircraft, from London, landed in ​Plovdiv, local media said.

On Tuesday, at least seven flights and a cruise ⁠ship received bomb threats, causing disruption at airports across Europe, although no devices were discovered. While no country has ⁠attributed ​blame for the threats, they come at a time when European officials have been blaming both Russia and Iran for what they describe as "hybrid attacks" ⁠and acts of sabotage. Moscow and Tehran both deny any such campaign.

This week, unidentified ⁠hackers shut down ⁠fridges in supermarkets in several European countries. Some experts said hoax bomb threats could be part of a similar pattern of low-cost, ‌deniable disruption ‌efforts.