Key facts
- Wizz Air received hoax bomb alerts for 14 flights across Europe in the week before November 12, Varadi said.
- Two Wizz Air aircraft were diverted as a result of the emailed threats, according to Varadi.
- Varadi said he met the European Commission very recently to urge coordinated action on the threats.
- Varadi said no country wants to concede sovereignty on the issue, calling it a very hot potato.
- Reuters said it could not establish the sender's identity, the emails' origin or whether they shared one source.
Wizz Air chief executive Jozsef Varadi said on November 12 that Europe needs a more harmonised approach to security and a body to lead it against what he called hybrid warfare, after a series of bomb threats. He spoke on a post-earnings call, according to Reuters.
Varadi said he had met the European Commission very recently to press the issue. "I personally had a meeting with the European Commission very recently, trying to address this issue and urging these people to act together and find ways of getting coordinated," he said. He added that the matter is "a very hot potato because of the sovereign nation state concept, and no country wants to concede on this matter." He did not say whether other airline executives had also met EU officials.
Wizz Air received hoax bomb alerts for 14 flights operated across Europe in the week before November 12 and diverted two aircraft as a result of the threats, which were sent by email to airports and airlines, Varadi said. In a separate interview with Reuters, he linked the threats to hybrid warfare affecting the whole of Europe.
Reuters said it was not able to establish the identity of the sender, the origin of the emails, or whether they had all come from the same source as threats to any or all of the dozens of flights affected in November. Bomb threats have disrupted travel, newsrooms and schools across Europe in November, with the latest alert temporarily disrupting train services in northern France on the morning of November 12.
The emailed threats add to concerns among European officials that the hoaxes are part of a campaign of hybrid disruptions, which many have blamed on Russia, aimed at countries that have helped Ukraine. Moscow has denied involvement. Varadi said Europe needs to consider how to level up responsibilities against such a threat, describing Wizz Air as an airline originating from Central Europe that is probably closer to these exposures than Western carriers.