Czech expert: Level of plane bomb threats unseen in decades
As elsewhere in Europe, Czech civil aviation has been disrupted by bomb threats. A number of flights to Prague were the target on Thursday, while more planes headed or scheduled to depart from the city had to be investigated on Friday. A Czech expert says the current level of threats hasn’t been seen in 25 years.
Just as they did on Thursday, Czech police on Friday investigated anonymous threats claiming bombs had been placed on certain flights to Prague or scheduled to depart from the city’s Václav Havel Airport.
In a statement on social media, the police said security measures were having a minimal impact on regular operations at the airport.
At around 11 a.m. on Friday a spokesperson for Prague Airport said the latest threats involved nine flights, four arrivals and five departures. At that time the aircraft were on the tarmac and being inspected by the police.
In addition, news agencies reported on Friday that a flight from Prague to Rome had been diverted to Venice due to a bomb threat.
Thursday’s threats involved four aircraft bound for Prague from Dublin, Glasgow, Athens and Newcastle, as well as the premises of Václav Havel Airport.
A representative of Václav Havel Airport in Prague told the media that those threats had been made in an anonymous email.
Czechia’s National Center Against Terrorism, Extremism and Cybercrime is investigating the matter.
The threats have no means been confined to the Czech Republic, with around a dozen European states hit by similar threats on Thursday.
Jana Podolková, who works as a trainer in the field of civil aviation security, said she could not recall such a series of bomb threats against civil aviation over the past 25 years.
In an interview with Czech Radio, Podolková said it was extremely important to have properly trained staff, to emphasize a culture of security in the relevant area at the airport, as well as across other entities involved in aviation, and to be aware of the possibility of potential internal threats.
