Hoax bomb threats affect at least 20 European flights within hours

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At least 20 flights in Europe deal with bomb threats, adding to what one expert calls an unusual level of hoaxes in a short time period, suggesting "a very deliberate act."

Paris — At least 20 commercial flights in Europe had to deal with bomb threats Thursday, with at least one being diverted to a military base in France. While authorities have reported no explosives discovered on any of the jets, and they all appeared to be hoaxes, Thursday's incidents add to a fast-growing number of journeys hit by similar threats this week, which one expert said suggested a "very deliberate act."

British authorities dismissed threats to about seven flights earlier this week as hoaxes, but the number of impacted journeys soared to at least 27 on Thursday, meaning significant disruption for thousands of passengers and raising concerns about a possible coordinated effort to impact travel on the continent.

At least two more European flights, along with several Irish and British news outlets, got similar threats on Friday.

No authorities have confirmed a link between any of the threats, but Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Friday that Europe appeared to be facing "hybrid aggression and a form of psychological warfare."

David Kaminski-Morrow, Air Transport Editor with FlightGlobal, declined to speculate on who might be behind the threats to commercial flights this week, but he noted that "we currently live in a time of political aggression in regions including Europe, and it's a pretty effective tactic if someone is looking to cause disruption."

"The cluster of threats seems unusual, but it's hard to determine the extent to which they might be organized," he said, noting that "the publicity alone could spur further threats unrelated to earlier ones."

Kaminski-Morrow noted that, under an international aviation convention in place for more than 80 years, the pilot in command of a flight has the final authority over its safety, "and airlines always take threats to safety seriously.

The threats to commercial airliners Thursday came after at least seven other flights across Europe received bomb threats this week that prompted aircraft searches…

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