An Airbus A320 operated by Austrian Airlines made an emergency landing in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Sunday night after a reported bomb threat while en route from Tel Aviv to Vienna. The aircraft was diverted to Vasil Levski Airport approximately 30 minutes after the initial alert, having been over Romanian airspace at the time. Bulgarian authorities scrambled a MiG-29 fighter jet to escort the airliner to the airport.
The flight carried 51 passengers and six crew members. Upon landing, authorities conducted a comprehensive security search of the aircraft. No threat was ultimately discovered during the inspection. All passengers and crew remained unharmed throughout the incident.
Austrian Airlines acknowledged that a threat had been made but did not provide additional specifics regarding the nature of the threat or its source. Flight tracking data indicated the aircraft had departed Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening before landing in Sofia approximately three hours later.
The incident occurred in a period marked by elevated security concerns affecting commercial aviation in the region. Last month, a pilot on a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv attempted to hijack the aircraft by attacking the captain before being subdued by crew and passengers, resulting in the plane landing safely in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, last week both Croatia and Germany deployed fighter jets in response to a commercial flight from Corfu to Nuremberg that accidentally transmitted a hijacking alert.
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