Bomb threat forces Israel to Austria flight into emergency landing

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File photo of an airbus A320-214, with Austrian Airlines branding, lands at Barcelona-El Prat airport, in Barcelona, Spain, on April 1 2025. — Image source, NurPhoto via Getty Images

Published 19 October 2026

An Austrian Airlines flight from Israel to Austria was forced to divert to Bulgaria after a reported bomb threat.

The Airbus A320 plane was travelling from Tel Aviv to Vienna on Sunday night but made an emergency landing in Sofia, where passengers were evacuated, the Bulgarian transport ministry said in a statement.

The Bulgarian air force scrambled a MiG-29 fighter jet to escort the airliner, the statement said. No injuries have been reported and an investigation has begun.

File photo of an airbus A320-214, with Austrian Airlines branding, lands at Barcelona-El Prat airport, in Barcelona, Spa — Image caption, An Austrian Airlines jet similar to the one diverted to Bulgaria.

It comes after a pilot attempted to hijack a Flydubai flight en route to Tel Aviv last month by attacking the captain, before the flight’s crew and passengers overpowered him and landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia.

Bulgarian and Israeli media reported that a bomb threat had been made.

Austrian Airlines confirmed a threat was made, without giving further details. A spokesperson told the BBC there were 51 passengers and six crew members on board the jet.

Authorities conducted a security search of the plane after it landed in Sofia, about 30 minutes from when the alert was first raised. It was over Romania when it diverted to Sofia.

Austrian Airlines confirmed that no threat was found and the flight finished its journey to Vienna with all passengers on board.

Image shows Capt Smit Matchhar with a bandage around his head and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — Photo via bbc.co.uk.

Flight tracking data showed Austrian Airlines 82 left Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening before landing at Vasil Levski airport in Sofia three hours later.

Last week, Croatia and Germany both scrambled fighter jets after a commercial flight from the Greek holiday island of Corfu to the German city of Nuremberg accidentally sent out a hijacking alert.

Related topics: Aviation safety · Israel · Aviation accidents and incidents · Austria · Lufthansa

More on this story:
– ‘I was not going to let others die’ – pilot of Flydubai flight describes cockpit attack by co-pilot (2 October)
– Flydubai attacker began a ‘drift towards extremism and terrorism’ in Australia, UAE says (10 October)

Source: BBC News