Bomb threats were made against three commercial flights bound for Sofia on Thursday morning. Two of the aircraft, which had departed from Copenhagen and Madrid, reached their final destinations.

The third plane, arriving from London with 184 people on board, was diverted to Plovdiv. Three buses were sent to transport the passengers to Sofia. The aircraft landed in a remote area of the airport so that it could be inspected. Fire engines and ambulances were also dispatched in accordance with the emergency response plan for such situations.

All three flights that received the threats were operated by Ryanair. Following thorough inspections, no explosive devices were found on board any of the aircraft.

In response to the threats, the Bulgarian Air Force carried out an “Air Policing” mission. MiG-29 fighter jets from the Graf Ignatievo Air Base escorted the aircraft against which reports of possible explosive devices on board had been received.

In all such cases, upon orders from NATO's Combined Air Operations Centre, Bulgarian fighter jets on Air Policing duty carry out missions to detect, identify and escort aircraft, the Ministry of Defence said.

A number of other flights operated by different airlines across Europe also received threats.

Редактор: Калина Петкова