At least seven passenger planes and a cruise ship faced bomb threats across Europe on Tuesday, triggering emergency responses and disruptions for travelers. All of the aircraft landed safely, and thorough searches by police found no explosives on board.
The false alarms affected several major airlines, including Ryanair, Wizz Air, Scandinavian Airlines, and LOT Polish Airlines. In Italy, two military fighter jets were launched to escort a Ryanair flight from Dublin into Rome. In Poland, an airport outside Warsaw temporarily shut down after a plane from London was diverted there, while emergency teams in Spain and Bulgaria also searched arriving aircraft.
The disruptions spread beyond air travel late in the day. Near the Greek island of Syros, around 1,500 passengers and crew were evacuated from a cruise ship bound for Israel following another bomb warning. Authorities searched the vessel and confirmed that no explosive devices were present before allowing it to continue its journey.
No country or group has claimed responsibility for the hoaxes, and officials have not officially blamed anyone. However, aviation security experts noted that facing so many coordinated threats in a single day is very unusual, suggesting the primary goal was simply to cause broad confusion and delay across European transport systems.