Austrian Airlines Flight Diverts to Bulgaria Amid Bomb Threat

On October 18, an Austrian Airlines flight OS82 from Tel Aviv to Vienna was forced to divert to Bulgaria after the crew received a bomb threat while near the Romanian border. The Bulgarian Air Force scrambled a MiG-29 fighter jet to escort the Airbus A320 to Sofia’s Vasil Levski Airport, where it landed safely at approximately 9:43pm local time.

The flight had departed Ben Gurion Airport at about 6:46pm and entered Romanian airspace around 9:10pm before changing course towards Bulgaria. All 57 individuals on board, including 51 passengers and six crew members, disembarked safely, and Bulgarian authorities initiated security procedures, including a search of the aircraft.

The Bulgarian Ministry of Defence confirmed the deployment of the MiG-29, while the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport stated that the threat was received near the Romanian border. The nature of the threat and its communication method to the crew remain undisclosed.

No injuries were reported, and no explosive device was found.