Bomb threat forces Austrian flight to land in Bulgaria

A bomb threat forced an Austrian Airlines flight carrying 57 people from Tel Aviv to Vienna to divert to Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, late on Sunday.

A search found no danger, the airline and Bulgaria’s BTA news agency said.

“We confirm that there was a threat against flight OS82 on October 18, 2026, from Tel Aviv to Vienna (TLV to VIE), which made it necessary for the flight to make an intermediate landing in Sofia (SOF),” the airline said in a statement on Monday.

An Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv carrying 57 people was diverted to the Bulgarian capital Sofia late on October 18 after a threat was made against the aircraft, an airline spokesperson told Reuters https://t.co/zgNzJc7Ets — Reuters (@Reuters) October 19, 2026 The airline said searches of the aircraft, passengers and crew found no danger.

The flight later continued to Vienna after passengers reboarded.

BTA reported that the crew received the bomb threat as the aircraft approached the Romanian border.

The Bulgarian Air Force scrambled MiG-29 fighter jets.

The Lufthansa Group, which owns Austrian Airlines, Vienna Airport and the Austrian Interior Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

The Austrian and Bulgarian interior ministers were scheduled to hold a previously arranged news conference in Vienna on Monday at 11am.

The incident comes less than three weeks after a co-pilot on a Dubai to Tel Aviv flight operated by Flydubai allegedly attacked the captain with an axe in an attempt to crash the aircraft.

The United Arab Emirates attorney general said last week that the Omani co-pilot had intended to seize the September 30 flight and crash it into a terminal at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport in a suicide attack.

The captain thwarted the attempt.