No device found after bomb threat shut Warsaw's Modlin airport
A LOT flight from Heathrow diverted to Modlin after a bomb threat on Tuesday; the airport reopened after inspectors found no suspicious items.
Update ·
No suspicious items were found on the LOT plane and Modlin airport has reopened, the airline says.
Also in:Polski
Incidents in this story
- Modlin airport, Warsaw · Tuesday morning: Bomb threat diverts LOT flight to Modlin airport
- Chopin airport, Warsaw · same morning: Separate bomb threat on SAS flight lands at Chopin
No suspicious items were found aboard the LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 737 MAX that diverted to Warsaw's Modlin airport on Tuesday after a bomb threat, the airline said, as the airport resumed normal operations.
Modlin airport said the threat was reported shortly before ten in the morning, local time, aboard flight LO286 from London Heathrow, which had been due to land at Warsaw Chopin airport. The aircraft, carrying 181 people, touched down at Modlin minutes later and taxied to a designated area to await explosive-ordnance disposal teams, the airport said.
Passengers were moved to the arrivals hall while security services carried out checks. LOT confirmed around noon that no suspicious items were found during the inspection, and said passengers would be transferred to Chopin airport by coach once border checks were complete. Operations at Modlin resumed just before midday local time, the airport said.
Modlin, used mainly by low-cost carriers including Ryanair, lies about 40km north of Warsaw and handles around 3.4 million passengers a year, making it the second-busiest of the Polish capital's three airports.
A second bomb threat was reported the same morning on a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen to Warsaw; that aircraft landed as planned at Chopin airport, which stayed open throughout, and was also inspected, the Mirror reported.
No one has claimed responsibility for either threat. Both airports' operators said checks were carried out as a precaution.
The incidents followed a bomb threat a day earlier on a Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Sofia, which diverted to Budapest after NATO's readiness service issued an ALPHA alert and a Hungarian Gripen fighter jet was scrambled to escort it, Hungarian officials said. Taken together, the three threats within two days disrupted flights at three different airports in Poland and Hungary, with no device found in any case.
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What we know
- Official · LOT Polish Airlines No suspicious items were found aboard LOT flight LO286 after a bomb threat forced it to divert to Warsaw-Modlin airport, the airline said.
- 2+ outlets · VRT NWS, WalesOnline +1 The Boeing 737 MAX 8 carried 181 people and landed at Modlin only minutes after the threat was reported.
- 2+ outlets · Hufvudstadsbladet, Antena 3 CNN A second threat was reported the same morning on an SAS flight from Copenhagen, which landed as scheduled at Warsaw Chopin.
- 1 outlet · Polsat News Modlin resumed normal operations just before midday local time after security checks were completed.
- 1 outlet · The Independent No one has claimed responsibility for either threat.
How each fact is established: Verified checked by an ECTV editorOfficial stated by an official body2+ outlets reported independently by two or more news organisations1 outlet reported by a single news organisation so farUnconfirmed claimed or reportedHow we label facts
Why it matters for Europe
Bomb threats grounding flights at two Warsaw airports on the same morning, a day after a similar scare forced a Wizz Air jet to divert to Budapest, point to a run of unverified threats against flights linked to central Europe this week. Poland's response, including explosive-ordnance teams and a temporary airport closure, shows how a single unverified threat can disrupt a major hub even when no device is found.
Updates
·
No suspicious items were found on the LOT plane and Modlin airport has reopened, the airline says.
First published.
Sources
Reported by 36 reports from 35 independent outlets in 19 countries.
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- News247: Συναγερμός στο αεροδρόμιο της Βαρσοβίας για βόμβα – Έκτακτη προσγείωση αεροσκάφους
- Kathimerini: Βαρσοβία: Συναγερμός σε δύο αεροδρόμια μετά από απειλές για βόμβα σε αεροσκάφη
- Jornal de Negócios: Ameaa de bomba em avio obriga a encerrar aeroporto de Varsvia
- Daily Sabah: Warsaw airport shut after flight from London lands over bomb threat
Source balance
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Intelligence file
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Confidence and impact scores, 31 more sources, the full situation report and the event timeline.
Questions and answers
- What happened to the London-Warsaw flight?
- A bomb threat was reported aboard LOT flight LO286 from Heathrow, which diverted to Warsaw-Modlin airport; no suspicious items were found during the inspection, the airline said.
- Was Warsaw's main airport affected?
- Chopin airport stayed open; a second flight from Copenhagen that received a separate threat landed there and was checked without disrupting the airport's operations.
- Has anyone claimed responsibility?
- No. No device was found on either aircraft and no one has claimed responsibility.
This article was written with AI assistance from 36 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.