WARSAW — Two passenger flights bound for Warsaw landed under security checks on Tuesday morning, November 3, after separate bomb threats, and one of the Polish capital's two airports closed for several hours before reopening around midday, Reuters reported. No casualties were reported, and by Tuesday afternoon Polish authorities had said the threat against the second aircraft was not confirmed.

Source: Reuters

The first and larger incident involved LOT Polish Airlines flight LO286 from London Heathrow to Warsaw Chopin. According to a Warsaw-Modlin Airport statement carried by Reuters, a bomb threat alert was announced on board at 9:54 a.m. local time, and the Boeing 737 MAX landed at Warsaw-Modlin at 10:01 a.m., seven minutes later. The 181 people on board were evacuated, the airport said, and passengers and crew waited in the arrivals hall while security services checked the aircraft. A LOT spokesperson confirmed it was a LOT flight, Reuters said.

Source: Reuters

Modlin Airport, which sits about 36 kilometres (22 miles) from the capital and is used mostly by budget airlines, closed until further notice while the checks continued. Modlin spokesperson Adam Szablowski told reporters that staff were waiting for bomb disposal experts, according to reports of his remarks carried by Polish media and Reuters. The Guardian reported that the LOT jet — identified in flight-tracking coverage as a 737 MAX 8 — was directed to a designated area of the airport after landing.

Source: The Guardian via EuropeSays Poland

Second threat on the Copenhagen flight

At Warsaw's main Chopin Airport, a bomb threat was also reported on an SAS flight from Copenhagen, Reuters reported. The SAS service, flight SK751, landed at Chopin as scheduled at around 9:29 a.m., and the aircraft was checked by security services while the airport continued operating, a Chopin Airport spokesperson said. The Guardian reported that the airport had received a report of a potentially dangerous item on board the SAS jet. SAS confirmed the flight had landed safely in Warsaw and that its passengers had disembarked, and Polish authorities said the threat was not confirmed, Reuters reported in its later update.

Source: Reuters via Devdiscourse (Modlin reopening)

Modlin reopens, checks continue

"We would like to inform you that air operations at Warsaw/Modlin Airport have been resumed," the airport said around midday on Tuesday, in the update carried by Reuters. The LOT aircraft itself remained under examination by the relevant services, with its passengers and crew still in the arrivals hall awaiting further decisions, the airport added. Warsaw has two airports: Chopin, inside the city limits, stayed open throughout, while Modlin, outside the city, took the closure. It was not immediately clear whether the two threats were linked, Reuters said.

Source: Reuters via Devdiscourse (Modlin reopening)

Part of a wider week of flight bomb threats in Europe

Tuesday's alerts followed a bomb threat a day earlier against a Wizz Air flight travelling from London to Sofia, which diverted to Budapest, NordiskPost reported. European airports have faced a series of bomb threat alerts and security diversions in recent months, and Polish authorities have not, in the reports available on Tuesday, attributed the Warsaw threats to any person or group, announced any arrest, or said that any explosive device was found.

Source: NordiskPost (SAS flight SK751)

What happens next: Polish security services were still examining the LOT aircraft on Tuesday afternoon, and any finding — or a formal all-clear — will come from the airport and Polish authorities. Travellers using Modlin should expect residual delays while the parked aircraft's area remains under inspection, even though flight operations have resumed.