In brief
European airlines faced bomb threats on multiple flights, notably three routes heading to Sofia and a LOT flight from Warsaw to Brussels. The Bulgarian Air Force scrambled MiG‑29s to escort the aircraft, and additional flights were diverted or landed safely. No passengers were harmed and all aircraft touched down without incident.
Bomb threats were reported on several European passenger flights on Thursday, 5 November 2026. An Xinhua report noted that planes from Copenhagen, Madrid and London to Sofia received threatening calls and that a LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw to Brussels was also flagged. All aircraft involved landed safely, and no incident was reported.
Prior to the 5 November events, the Bulgarian Air Force had already responded to threats that day. A Facebook post from the Air Force on 3 October 2026 announced the scrambling of MiG‑29 fighters from Graf Ignatievo Air Base to intercept and escort the three civilian aircraft bound for Sofia. The Intercept mission was completed at 10:11 a.m., after which the planes landed safely, one at Plovdiv Airport and two at Sofia Airport. The mission was conducted under NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre orders.
In light of the threats on the 5 November flights, the LOT aircraft that had departed Warsaw for Brussels was taken seriously by airline and air‑traffic control. Belgian news outlet BRUZZ reported the flight “landed safely at Brussels Airport after a suspicious report concerning the aircraft,” citing the Belga News Agency. No further details were given, but the flight’s safe arrival was confirmed.
Additional reports surfaced during the 24‑hour spill‑over of the incidents. The Guardian live‑blog, although currently inaccessible, noted that a Dublin‑to‑Rome flight was diverted to a military base in France after a bomb threat, and that threats were also being reported in Italy, Bulgaria, and Belgium. The BBC brief on the same day referenced an aircraft diversioned to a French military base, but the deployment was never further detailed in the source.
The combination of on‑board security checks, the deployment of fighter aircraft for escort duties, and the diversion of flights to secure locations has allowed aviation authorities to manage the threats without passenger harm. The veracity of each incident can be traced to the independent statements from the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport, the Belarus Airlines’ flight logs, and the Belgian news outlet mentioned above.
While the Xinhua article remained silent on the earlier events in Bulgaria, the BTA report provided the official timeline of the air‑policing mission. Both sources converged on the fact that the aircraft were handled by air‑traffic control and national security agencies in a coordinated effort. No passenger injuries or aircraft damage were reported across all incidents.
In the days following the November 5 surprise, several European airlines have reiterated that bomb threats remain a serious issue. Their security protocols and coordination with military units have been under scrutiny, but the lack of actual sabotage indicates that the operational responses were adequate. The incidents have not yet led to a broader security review beyond the checks on threat reporting procedures.
