Third wave of bomb threats this week hits European airlines as Irish media are evacuated

On Friday morning, staff at RTÉ, Ireland's public broadcaster, were evacuated from their building after a threat was made against it. It happened while European airlines were already dealing with a third wave of bomb threats in a single week.

The airline threats on Friday targeted multiple flights to and from Lisbon, Rome, Prague and Sofia. Authorities said three planes were escorted by Hungarian fighter jets. Ryanair said one of its flights, scheduled to leave Lisbon for Rome, was among those threatened. According to AFP, at least 11 flights were targeted in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. France reported that at least four of its flights received threats, and all of them landed safely. As of Friday, no explosives had been found on any plane.

The disruption follows earlier threats this week that affected nearly 30 aircraft and several airports across Europe. The UK called those threats a "malicious hoax."

The threats to the media came as the airlines were still responding. Staff at the Irish Independent newspaper, and at the Dublin offices of the radio stations NewstalkFM and TodayFM, were advised to leave their buildings. Sky, the UK broadcaster owned by Comcast, confirmed hours after RTÉ's evacuation that it had also received a security threat. In a statement read out by a presenter on its news channel, Sky said it had carried out a security assessment and reported the matter to the relevant authorities. It added that the safety and security of its colleagues was its primary concern. No injuries were reported.

Gardaí, the Irish police, said they were aware of a threat made against media organisations in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe. No link has been established between the messages sent to airlines and those sent to the media outlets. Even so, the Irish government warned of a "likely coordinated campaign of disruption." Its statement said hoax threats cause fear, distress and disruption to people going about their daily lives, and achieve no positive purpose. It also acknowledged that it is not yet known who is responsible, or whether the sender is a group of individuals or a centralised, coordinated effort.

Prime Minister Micheál Martin called the situation "worrying" and said his government's first priority was the safety of the Irish public. He observed that the previous day had appeared to involve coordinated efforts to disrupt air travel. Speaking to RTÉ, he said it was not yet known whether the threats came from individuals or from a "coordinated attack," but that they were being taken seriously. Ireland is due to host two high-profile European Union meetings in Dublin next week.

The question of who is behind the messages has already touched a Russian extremist group. "Male State," which was named in this week's hoax threats to Italian airports, has denied any connection. Responding to the BBC Russian Service, a Telegram account linked to the group and its founder, Vladislav Pozdnyakov, mocked the idea that it had emailed the threats. It said the group had not existed for many years, and asked whether journalists would try to reach the Russian president if a threat letter were signed in his name.

For now, the picture is of repeated hoax-style disruption across airlines and newsrooms, with no explosives found and no confirmed author. The next markers are whether investigators can connect the airline and media threats, and how security is handled around next week's EU meetings in Dublin.