Austrian Airlines Flight Diverted to Sofia After Bomb Threat

Overview

• An Austrian Airlines Airbus A320 en route from Tel Aviv to Vienna was diverted to Sofia after the crew reported a bomb threat, prompting the plane to land and passengers to disembark.
• The aircraft, which sent a general emergency transponder signal, was escorted to Sofia by a Bulgarian MiG-29 and subjected to a full on‑ground search.
• Austrian Airlines confirmed there were 51 passengers and six crew on board and later issued an all‑clear after searches found no explosives.
• After security checks the flight was reboarded and OS82 continued to Vienna; Bulgarian and Austrian authorities have set up a crisis cell and opened an investigation into who made the alert.
• The incident follows several recent security scares involving flights linked to Israel, raising scrutiny of threat reporting and standard diversion-and-search procedures across the region.