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Europe faced a growing wave of bomb threats on Friday, with commercial flights and media organizations targeted in several countries, prompting airport security operations, flight disruptions and office evacuations.
At least eight flights arriving at or departing from Prague airport were targeted by bomb threats, involving incoming flights from Denmark, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as departures bound for the Netherlands, Greek Cyprus, Romania, Italy and the United Kingdom.
The incidents added to dozens of false alarms reported across European aviation throughout the week, forcing authorities to divert aircraft and deploy fighter jets to escort civilian planes.
In a separate incident, Portuguese police investigated a bomb threat against Ryanair flight FR8197, which was scheduled to fly from Lisbon to Rome on Friday.
The alert came while the aircraft was approaching Lisbon after flying from the Italian capital. Portugal's Special Police Unit subsequently inspected the plane but found no explosives or suspicious objects.
"Following the bomb threat targeting flight FR8197... the Special Police Unit (UEP) carried out a security inspection of the aircraft, without any explosive device or suspicious object being detected," Portuguese police said in a statement.
All passengers and their luggage also underwent another round of security checks, with officers reporting no irregularities or suspicious items.
The latest incidents followed a wave of hoax bomb threats targeting nearly 30 passenger flights across Europe on Thursday, forcing some aircraft to make unscheduled landings and prompting fighter jet deployments.
Three flights were diverted, but all aircraft landed safely, and no explosives were found. At least five other flights received air force escorts after bomb threats.
Low-cost carriers and routes involving Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Italy were among the main targets.
Although authorities did not establish overall responsibility for the threats, messages sent to airports in Rome and Sofia and reviewed by AFP contained misogynistic statements and claimed to originate from a group calling itself "fighters of the Male State."
The threats also extended beyond aviation, with several Irish media organizations evacuating their offices on Friday after receiving bomb warnings by email.
Police were deployed to the headquarters of national broadcaster RTE in Dublin, where armed officers were reportedly present.
"RTE buildings have been evacuated following a bomb threat," the broadcaster announced on its website.
Staff at the Irish Independent newspaper, Newstalk and Today FM radio stations, and Virgin Media television were also evacuated, according to local media reports.
No group had claimed responsibility for the broader series of threats, which came ahead of high-profile European Union meetings scheduled to take place in Dublin the following week.
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