A bomb scare forced a passenger plane from London to make an emergency landing in Poland on Tuesday, while three other threats grounded flights from Manchester, Copenhagen and Israel.

The Polish airline LOT flight from Heathrow was carrying 181 people when an alert brought it down at Warsaw-Modlin airport. Security services were still verifying the threat and the international airport affected was temporarily closed.

The Boeing 737 MAX had been due to land at Warsaw Chopin airport when the warning came in at 8.54am GMT. Bomb disposal experts reportedly checked the flight and passengers’ luggage after it touched down at Modlin seven minutes later.

A second bomb threat was reported on a Scandinavian SAS flight from Copenhagen to Warsaw, which was forced to land at Chopin Airport and was also being checked. SAS later said the flight had landed safely in Warsaw and passengers had disembarked.

A third threat was reported on a Ryanair flight carrying 114 passengers from Manchester that landed in Murcia in southern Spain, according to Diari ARA. And a fourth later prompted a flight from Israel to land in Sofia, Bulgaria.

It was not immediately clear whether the threats were linked.

While no one has claimed responsibility for the scares, the incidents reflect growing concerns in Europe about hybrid threats to infrastructure amid growing security tensions since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

An explosive-laden drone was found near a Ukrainian plane at the Leipzig/Halle airport in east Germany in August, prompting a counterterrorism investigation. Germany accused Russia of responsibility for the attack.

Moscow has repeatedly denied involvement in sabotage or hybrid warfare operations and has not commented on Tuesday’s incidents in Poland.

Warsaw-Chopin remained open on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the airport said. Warsaw has two airports: Chopin is within the city limits and Modlin, mostly used by budget airlines, is about 22 miles from the capital.

Adam Szabłowski, spokesperson for Warsaw Modlin Airport, told tvn24.pl: “A plane from London landed at Modlin Airport at 10.01am with 181 people on board. The airport has been closed. We are waiting for bomb disposal experts.”

The airport said in a statement that the plane was directed to a designated area after landing and would remain there until the authorities, including bomb disposal teams, can advise.

Passengers were told to wait in the arrival lounge while checks were being carried out. Modlin later announced on Tuesday that the rest of the airport had resumed operations.

Ryanair flight FR4116 from Manchester to Murcia in Spain also landed safely with 114 passengers and seven crew members on board. Local media reported the incident occurred at 10:50am local time on Tuesday and that the aircraft was undergoing checks.

Separately, a plane flying from Israel landed at Sofia airport after a bomb threat was received by email, local media reported on Tuesday.

Counter-terrorism units were checking the plane for possible explosive devices, BTA news agency quoted interior minister Secretary General Lyubomir Nikolov as saying.

It comes a day after a WizzAir flgiht from London Luton to Bulgaria’s Sofia was diverted to Budapest following a reported mid-air bomb threat. The scare was ultimately shown to be a false alarm.

The Independent approached Ryanair and London Heathrow for comment.

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