The Airbus A320, operating as flight OS82 from Tel Aviv, landed safely in the Bulgarian capital Sofia with 51 passengers and six crew members on board, the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group, said.
Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry said the Austrian Airlines crew decided to divert and make an emergency landing in Sofia after reportedly receiving a bomb threat while flying near the Romanian border.
Passengers were evacuated after landing, while Bulgarian authorities launched security checks of the aircraft.
The transport ministry announced that a crisis response team has been set up, and relevant authorities have launched an investigation into the incident.
According to Israeli media outlets, the anonymous bomb threat that forced the flight to change course came from an Austrian citizen who was not on board the plane.
The Bulgarian Defense Ministry said MiG-29 fighter jets were scrambled to escort the aircraft to the airport in an operation coordinated with NATO’s so-called Combined Air Operations Center in Spain.
MNA