A Ryanair bomb threat forced a security operation at Murcia's airport in Spain on Tuesday morning, after a flight from Manchester landed with 114 passengers and seven crew on board. Everyone was taken off the plane, and Spain's Civil Guard brought in bomb disposal officers to search it from nose to tail. They found nothing. "The Civil Guard has ruled out the presence of explosives on the plane from Manchester following its inspection," Murcia's government delegate, Francisco Lucas, posted on X.
It was one of seven flights targeted Tuesday. Two flights headed into Warsaw, Poland, were hit by threats within about half an hour of each other, two more Ryanair flights were escorted into Rome by fighter jets, and two flights to Sofia, Bulgaria, were checked after an emailed threat. Authorities haven't said whether any of them are connected.
Latest Updates
Tuesday, Nov. 3, 12:15 p.m. ET: The count is now seven flights in one day, four of them Ryanair. Bulgaria's transport minister, Georgi Peev, said two flights to Sofia were targeted by a single email that arrived around 10:35 a.m. local time: a Wizz Air flight from Bergamo, Italy, which landed at 11:10, and a Ryanair flight from Dublin, which landed at 1:30 p.m. Both were checked and nothing was found. "There is no danger in this case," Peev said. Earlier reports, including ours, said a plane from Israel had landed in Sofia. That was wrong, and we've corrected it. Italian media now report that fighter jets escorted both Ryanair flights into Rome, not just the one from Lisbon. Italian authorities have called the wave of threats "highly unusual." No arrests have been announced, and no one has said who sent the threats.
Tuesday, Nov. 3, 9:15 a.m. ET: The count is now six flights. Two Ryanair flights into Rome were hit by threats within about an hour of each other. One, from Lisbon, was escorted to the airport by Italian Air Force fighter jets. Bomb disposal teams checked the other, from Dublin, and found nothing. A plane reportedly landed in Sofia after an emailed threat (see the correction above). Warsaw Modlin reopened around midday local time. The day before, a Wizz Air flight from London to Sofia was diverted to Budapest after a threat and later continued to Bulgaria. No explosives have been reported on any of the planes, and no arrests have been announced.
What Happened in Murcia
The Ryanair flight left Manchester just after 7:10 a.m. UK time and landed at Región de Murcia International Airport around 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET). The warning came in shortly before landing, and by the time the wheels touched down, firefighters, ambulances, police and bomb disposal specialists were waiting.
Passengers were moved to a safe area and screened again while the plane was inspected. No one was hurt. Ryanair hadn't commented publicly when we published, and the flight number hasn't been released.
Two Warsaw Flights Hit Too
About half an hour before the Murcia landing, LOT Polish Airlines flight LO286 from London Heathrow to Warsaw got a bomb threat on approach. Instead of landing at Warsaw's main airport, Chopin, it diverted to Warsaw Modlin, a smaller airport north of the city, and touched down at 10:01 a.m. local time with 181 people on board. The plane was parked away from the terminal for bomb disposal teams, and Modlin closed to all traffic for close to two hours. One inbound flight from Edinburgh had to divert to Poznań, about three hours west by car. Imagine flying into Newark and getting sent to Albany instead.
Around the same time, SAS flight SK751 from Copenhagen landed at Warsaw Chopin a few minutes early after a report of a potentially dangerous item on board. Passengers got off as normal and security checked the plane. Chopin stayed open the whole time. Modlin reopened around midday local time.
Two Ryanair Flights Escorted Into Rome
Rome's main airport, Fiumicino, dealt with threats against two Ryanair flights within about an hour, and Italian Air Force fighter jets escorted both planes in, according to Italian media. The first, reportedly flight FR9611 from Lisbon, landed around 9:40 a.m. local time after a threat claiming there were bombs on board. The second, from Dublin, landed at 10:44 a.m. Bomb disposal teams checked passengers, bags and both planes and found nothing. Neither caused wider disruption at the airport.
Two Flights Checked in Sofia
In Bulgaria, two flights to Sofia were targeted by a single email that arrived around 10:35 a.m. local time, according to Bulgaria's transport minister, Georgi Peev. A Wizz Air flight from Bergamo, Italy, landed at 11:10, and a Ryanair flight from Dublin landed at 1:30 p.m. Both landed as planned, and both were checked without anything being found. "There is no danger in this case," Peev said. Some early reports, including ours, said a plane from Israel had landed in Sofia. That turned out to be wrong.
It was also the second day in a row a Sofia-bound flight was targeted. On Monday, a Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Sofia was diverted to Budapest after a threat, and it continued to Bulgaria once nothing was found.
Why Every Threat Gets Treated as Real
Threats like these almost always turn out to be hoaxes. The problem is that nobody can know that in the moment, so airlines and police treat every single one as genuine. That means landing as normal or diverting to a quieter airport, parking the plane away from the terminal, getting everyone off, screening passengers and bags again and searching the aircraft by hand. It can take hours even when nothing is found, and the plane often misses its next few flights, which is how one threat ends up delaying people who were never on the flight.
It's also a serious crime. In the UK, a bomb hoax can carry up to seven years in prison, and Spain and Poland treat false alarms that trigger emergency responses just as seriously.
What It Means If You're Flying
If you were on one of these flights, your airline should get you to your destination or rebook you, and look after you with food and, if needed, a hotel while you wait. Cash compensation is a different story. Security threats count as extraordinary circumstances under UK and EU passenger rules, so airlines don't have to pay the €250 to €600 you'd normally get for a long delay.
If you're flying Ryanair or Wizz Air in or out of Murcia, Rome or Sofia, or anything through Warsaw today, check your airline's app before you leave for the airport, since planes caught up in this morning's checks may be running late. And if you're flying to Spain next week, keep an eye on the Nov. 11 general strike too.
We'll update this story as police and the airlines share more.
