Bomb threats target four flights in Europe: aircraft checked in Warsaw, Murcia and Sofia

Article being updated. Information verified up to 14:45 Chisinau time, 3 November 2026.

At least four passenger flights were targeted by bomb threats in Europe on Tuesday. All the aircraft landed safely in Warsaw, Murcia and Sofia and were checked by specialist teams. No authority has announced finding an explosive device: nothing was found in Sofia, while checks in Warsaw and Murcia were ongoing. The incidents came a day after a Wizz Air flight was diverted to Budapest for the same reason.

What happened on each flight

London Heathrow – Warsaw (LOT, LO286). According to Warsaw-Modlin Airport, an alert about a possible bomb on board was raised at 10:54 Chisinau time. The Boeing 737 MAX, which was due to land at Chopin Airport, landed at Modlin at 11:01, with 181 people on board. The airport was closed, and operations resumed by 12:50, with part of the apron still closed and the aircraft undergoing checks. A LOT spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that it was a LOT flight.

Copenhagen – Warsaw (SAS, SK751). SAS confirmed that the flight had been targeted by a threat. The aircraft landed normally at Chopin Airport, and the case is being handled by Warsaw police, the company said, as quoted by The Guardian.

Manchester – Murcia (Ryanair, FR4116). The Spanish Government’s delegate in the Murcia region, Francisco Lucas, announced on social media that the security protocol had been activated because of a “bomb alert”. The 114 passengers and 7 crew members disembarked and underwent a security check. The aircraft, which had reached its destination, was being inspected by Civil Guard TEDAX specialists, according to El Mundo. The time differs across the Spanish press: a landing at 11:31 Chisinau time, according to COPE and Marca; El Mundo gives 11:50 as the time the protocol was activated.

The Sofia flight: conflicting information. Reuters, citing Bulgaria’s BTA news agency, reported that a plane arriving from Israel landed in Sofia after a threat was sent by email. However, Bulgaria’s Ministry of Transport told NOVA that the plane had come from Bergamo, Italy. According to the Interior Ministry, cited by bTV, no explosive device was found on board.

What the authorities say

Bulgaria’s acting Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior, Lyubomir Nikolov, said there was currently no information about any concrete terrorist intentions or actions, and that security measures at airports had been stepped up. According to Nikolov, the sender of the threat that diverted the flight to Budapest on Monday has not yet been identified. The authorities have not said who is behind the messages or whether the incidents are connected.

Background

On Monday, 2 November, a Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Sofia was diverted to Budapest after a bomb threat and escorted by a Gripen fighter jet, Hungary’s Defence Minister, Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, announced. Wizz Air later said that no threat had been identified and the flight continued to Sofia.

Chisinau International Airport has also faced bomb alerts in recent weeks, on 2 and 3 October and during the night of 27 October. According to the Border Police, none of them was confirmed.

Is there a connection to Moldova?

None of the targeted flights departed from Chisinau or had Chisinau as its destination. As of the time of writing, no Moldovan citizens were reported to be on board, and the Border Police, Chisinau International Airport and the Civil Aviation Authority had made no public statements on the matter, as far as we could verify.

What you can do if your flight is diverted or delayed

• Check your flight status on the airport’s online board, as recommended by the Border Police.

• EU rules apply to flights departing from the EU and to flights arriving in the EU operated by an EU airline, so they also apply to Chisinau–EU flights operated by European airlines.

• In the event of delays, the airline must provide food and drinks free of charge and, if necessary, accommodation. Keep your receipts.

• Security risks may constitute extraordinary circumstances, in which case the airline may be exempt from paying compensation if it can prove this.

• Landing at another airport in the same city or region is treated as a delay, not a cancellation.

What happens next

The authorities in Poland and Spain have not yet announced the results of their checks. We will update this article with further details.