French prosecutors have opened an investigation into bogus bomb threats targeting dozens of commercial flights in Europe over the past week, notably including whether foreign powers could be involved, the office of the Paris prosecutor told AFP on Saturday, November 7. The investigation aims to find "the authors of the emails who disseminated this false information... and to determine any potential links they may have to foreign powers", the prosecutor's office said. Several of the threats concerned flights passing over French territory.
The threats came in three waves during the week. European Union Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas reported 11 threats on Friday, following 14 on Thursday and seven on Tuesday, affecting countries including France, Ireland, Italy, Bulgaria, Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Romania and Hungary. Despite the widespread alerts, authorities reported no explosives aboard any affected aircraft and no injuries, and Tzitzikostas cautioned that it was too early to determine whether the incidents were connected or part of a coordinated operation.
Awaaz Punjab covered the first waves as they happened — the Aer Lingus diversion to a French military base and Thursday's hoax threats against some 25 flights. Aer Lingus flight diverted to Évreux military base after bomb threat
The most serious single incident came on Thursday, when an Aer Lingus Airbus A320 flying from Dublin to Rome as flight EI402 was intercepted by French fighter jets and diverted to the Évreux-Fauville military air base west of Paris. The French prime minister's office said the 151 passengers and six crew were moved to a safe place while a bomb squad searched the aircraft; nothing was found. On Friday, the French prime minister's office reported four new alerts concerning planes flying over French territory, saying all landed safely, and a Ryanair flight from Rome to Lisbon landed at Lisbon's Humberto Delgado Airport shortly before 8 a.m. local time after an anonymous phone call to Rome's Fiumicino control tower warned of a possible explosive device.
The 'Male State' signature — and a denial
Some of the threatening emails were signed in the name of "fighters of the Male State", matching the name of a radical group founded in Russia in 2016 by blogger Vladislav Pozdnyakov. Aeroporti di Roma, which manages Rome's airports, said an email threatening two inbound flights carried that signature, and threats emailed to Rome and Sofia carried it as well. Pozdnyakov denied any involvement, saying on social media on Friday that the movement had ceased to exist in 2021. AFP said it had not verified any link between the group and the threats, and the identity of the senders and the authenticity of the claim have not been independently established.
Source: AFP, Nov 7 2026; AFP via JBizNews, Nov 6-7 2026 (Aeroporti di Roma statement; Pozdnyakov denial)
Ireland's government said on Friday that false bomb claims sent to Irish media outlets were likely part of a co-ordinated campaign of disruption connected to the airline threats. Spain's Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said Europe appeared to be facing "hybrid aggression and a form of psychological warfare". European governments have previously accused Russia of sabotage and hybrid operations since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — accusations Moscow denies — but no government has formally attributed this week's threats to Russia or any other state, and investigators have established no such link so far.
Source: AFP, Nov 7 2026 (Irish government and Spanish Foreign Minister Albares statements)
What is solid
- Paris prosecutors have opened an investigation to identify the authors of the threatening emails and determine any potential links to foreign powers — Paris prosecutor's office, via AFP.
- Dozens of flights were threatened across at least ten European countries during the week; no explosives were found and no one was injured — EU Transport Commissioner Tzitzikostas and national authorities.
- Aer Lingus flight EI402 (151 passengers, 6 crew) was escorted by French fighters and diverted to Évreux-Fauville military base on Thursday; the aircraft was searched and nothing was found — French prime minister's office.
What is only claimed
- Who sent the threats: some emails were signed 'fighters of the Male State', but AFP has not verified any link to that group, whose founder Vladislav Pozdnyakov denies involvement and says it ceased to exist in 2021.
- Whether a foreign state is behind the campaign: Spain's foreign minister called it 'hybrid aggression', but no government has formally attributed the threats to any country, and the Paris investigation has established no foreign link so far.
- Exact daily counts differ between reports: the EU transport commissioner gave 11 (Friday), 14 (Thursday) and 7 (Tuesday), while some wire reporting put Thursday's total higher.
Every threat forces the same expensive response — fighter escorts, diversions to military bases, bomb-squad searches and airport disruption — whether or not a device exists. That is why officials treat a coordinated hoax campaign as a security problem in its own right: the disruption is the payload.
What happens next: the Paris investigation will work through the email evidence to identify the senders and test the foreign-powers question, while the Évreux public prosecutor is separately examining the circumstances of the EI402 diversion. Until investigators publish findings, the authorship of the threats — and any state link — remains unproven, and Awaaz Punjab will report it that way.