Wizz Air flight diverted to Budapest after bomb threat
A flight from London Luton to Sofia made an emergency landing under Hungarian fighter escort, with Wizz Air later saying security checks found nothing.
By Kofi Greco ·
A bomb threat made during a Wizz Air flight from London Luton Airport to Sofia prompted an emergency diversion to Budapest. A Hungarian fighter jet escorted the passenger aircraft to Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport, where authorities checked the plane and its passengers.
Wizz Air subsequently said the inspection was complete and nothing had been found. The airline said the aircraft would depart again shortly. Its update followed security checks carried out after the plane had landed and moved to a designated stand at the airport.
The aircraft was operating Wizz Air flight 4302 to the Bulgarian capital. According to the flight tracking website FlightAware, it left Luton at 08:33 GMT and had been scheduled to reach Sofia at 13:25 local time, equivalent to 11:25 GMT.
Instead, FlightAware recorded the aircraft arriving in Budapest at 12:09 local time, or 11:09 GMT. The diversion therefore brought the flight down in Hungary before its scheduled arrival time in Sofia, with the security inspection taking place there before the airline announced plans for departure.
Hungarian Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendis confirmed that Hungary had supplied the fighter aircraft that accompanied the flight. In a social media post describing the response, he said the Wizz Air aircraft had sought permission to land in Budapest after receiving the bomb threat.
Ruszin-Szendis said a Hungarian Defence Forces Gripen fighter jet was airborne within minutes and escorted the passenger plane. He added that the military aircraft subsequently returned to its base, while police assumed responsibility for dealing with the incident. His account described the military escort and the subsequent handover to police.
The airline said the passenger aircraft taxied to a designated stand following its emergency landing. A Wizz Air spokesperson said authorities then conducted the necessary security checks on both the aircraft and the people aboard. The carrier's later statement confirmed that those checks had ended without anything being found.
Wizz Air also said it was cooperating fully with the authorities over the incident. The airline described the safety of its passengers and crew as its highest priority. At the time of its update, it said the plane was expected to leave again shortly following completion of the inspection.
Source: BBC News
