Growing number of European flights impacted by 'malicious' bomb hoaxes

Several European flights have been targeted by 'malicious' bomb threats this morning.

The alert was raised earlier this morning when an Aer Lingus plane, flight EI-DEH, travelling from Dublin to Rome, was diverted to France's Evreux air base after an emergency alert was raised.

Passengers were evacuated for bomb crews to inspect the plane, with a statement from the airline confirming the diversion was 'a security precaution'.

Meanwhile, Ryanair flight FR1730, which departed London Stansted bound for Sofia, was diverted to Plovdiv after receiving a security alert.

LOT Polish Airlines has also confirmed that 'no suspicious items were found' onboard a flight heading from Warsaw to Brussels earlier this morning.

A Ryanair flight departing from London Stansted was also impacted (Adrian DENNIS / AFP via Getty Images)

According to a report from The Guardian, at least 15 flights in total have been impacted, including:

• Wizz Air flight W46387 from Milan to Warsaw, diverted to Vienna
• Ryanair flight FR6410 from Madrid to Sofia
• Ryanair flight FR3606 from Copenhagen to Sofia
• Finnair flight AY1761 from Helsinki to Rome
• Finnair flight AY1471 from Helsinki to Vienna
• Aegean Airlines flight A3552 from Thessaloniki to Milan
• Ryanair flight FR8953 from Porto to Milan

In Prague, four flights leading to the Czech capital were placed on alert after receiving bomb threats. Police have since confirmed that no explosives were found on any of the flights.

"Security measures at Prague Airport have just ended, with pyrotechnic inspections yielding negative results," read a statement from Czech police, adding that the investigation had been handed over to the country's National Centre Against Terrorism, Extremism, and Cybercrime.

Threats follow a wave of reported hoaxes earlier this week

The fresh wave of bomb hoaxes comes just days after seven flights were hit by hoaxes, including aircraft departing from Manchester and London Heathrow.

A subsequent investigation found no credible security issues against any of the flights affected by threats.

The alert comes just days after a wave of bomb threats across the continent (Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP via Getty Images)

Responding to Tuesday's hoaxes, a government spokesperson said: "The UK has one of the most robust aviation security systems in the world, with well-tested processes for dealing with any potential threats, as well as malicious hoax threats, like those we’ve seen today.

"Our world-leading police and intelligence agencies work closely every day to keep us safe, using the tools they have to assess and respond to potential threats."

The Metropolitan Police also confirmed that its aviation unit was monitoring the situation.