Nine flights to and from Václav Havel Airport in Prague, Czech Republic, received bomb threats on Friday 6 November 2026: four arrivals and five departures, airport spokesperson Denisa Hejtmánková told the Czech news agency ČTK1. One of the departures was KLM flight KL1352 from Prague to Amsterdam2. Police bomb disposal teams searched the affected aircraft that were on the ground in Prague while the rest of the airport stayed open, and no explosives were found1. It was the second day in a row that Czech police had to deal with threats at the airport3.

Searches on the apron, not a closed airport

Czech police said on X shortly after 11:00 local time that a number of aircraft arriving at and departing from Prague had again been threatened with an improvised explosive device. Working with the airport, they took the necessary security measures with minimal impact on normal operations1. Passengers disembarked before police bomb disposal teams checked the aircraft on the apron1. At around 11:15 police were checking the threatened aircraft that were in Prague, the airport said4. At around 13:00 police reported that all searches were negative, with no explosives or other dangerous or suspicious items on board. Operations were then fully restored and the security measures ended1. The case is being handled by the Czech National Centre against Terrorism, Extremism and Cybercrime (NCTEKK)1.

The Slovak daily Pravda noted that Prague showed for the second day running that a security operation does not automatically mean shutting down the whole airport5. According to the airport, the incident did not affect its operations2.

KL1352 landed normally at Schiphol

A KLM spokesperson told NL Times that the airline received a bomb threat on Friday morning concerning KL1352. The aircraft landed safely at Amsterdam Schiphol at 10:25, after which the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, a military police force, escorted passengers and crew off the aircraft2. The Marechaussee said no explosives were found on board3. KLM said it takes every threat seriously, has protocols in place for this type of report and assesses each threat on the basis of the information available, but does not share details of those protocols for security reasons2.

In a separate case, the Marechaussee arrested a 45-year-old Czech man at Schiphol on Thursday evening after he allegedly made a verbal bomb threat at the gate against a departing flight to Prague for which he held a ticket. He was released on Friday afternoon and it is not yet known whether he will be prosecuted6.

Diversion to Venice and fighter escorts over Hungary

Besides the KLM flight to Amsterdam, the departing flights were bound for Cyprus, Romania, Italy and the United Kingdom, while the arrivals came from Denmark, France, Spain and the United Kingdom, according to the airport7. A Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome diverted to Venice after the control tower at Rome Fiumicino received an anonymous bomb warning, the Italian agency ANSA reported1. Hungary's defence minister said fighter jets escorted three threatened aircraft through Hungarian airspace: two flights from Prague and one from Brussels to Sofia7. The Prague flights were heading to Cyprus and Bucharest3.

Thursday: four inbound aircraft

On Thursday 5 November, emailed threats named four aircraft heading to Prague from Dublin, Glasgow, Athens and Newcastle, as well as the airport itself18. Police rated the credibility of the threats as low but prepared post-landing searches with the airport89. The aircraft landed between 09:45 and 10:308. Airport spokesperson Jiří Hannich told The Guardian that the airport had activated a security coordination centre under its emergency plan. After landing, the aircraft were directed to remote stands, where police searched them5. Again, nothing was found1.

What crews and controllers do

Joji Waites, flight safety director of the British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA), said that a threat against an aircraft on the ground usually means an evacuation, while for an aircraft in the air the priority is to land as soon and as safely as possible10. SKYbrary's guidance for air traffic controllers says they can expect crews to ask for an immediate re-clearance, usually to a lower flight level, and for information about suitable aerodromes11. It recommends the ASSIST principle: acknowledge, separate, silence, inform, support and give the crew time11. After landing, tower controllers should be ready to help with an evacuation and to have the aircraft placed away from buildings and other aircraft11. To hear how a bomb threat sounds on frequency, listen to the Emirates 777 bomb threat at Warsaw.

A week of hoax threats across Europe

According to The Guardian, cited by Deník.cz, hoax threats affected at least 34 flights in Europe this week, starting on Monday. Deník.cz reported at least seven on Tuesday and at least 25 on Thursday10. Read more on Tuesday's threats against at least seven flights. An email sent to a logistics company working with Rome Fiumicino was signed with the name of the Russian group Male State, although the BBC noted that someone else may have used the name10. Read more on the Rome flights named in that threat and the inquiry into the Aer Lingus EI402 captain. Who is behind the threats is not known, and it is not yet clear whether the incidents are linked1. EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said, according to The Guardian, that it was too early to say whether they were connected10.