Wizz Air Airbus A321neo was escorted by a Hungarian Air Force Saab JAS 39 Gripen to Budapest on Monday after a bomb threat interrupted a flight from London to Sofia.
Flight W64302 had departed London Luton for the Bulgarian capital when the threat was received. The crew diverted to Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport as the aircraft flew over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Hungary's Ministry of Defense said NATO's air defense readiness service issued an ALPHA alert in response to the incident. A Hungarian Gripen took off from Kecskemét within minutes and accompanied the passenger aircraft to Budapest.
The A321neo landed safely at 12:08 p.m. local time and was taken to a remote area of the airport. Police then took over the response while the aircraft and passengers underwent security checks.
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The aircraft involved was HA-LGR, an Airbus A321neo. Wizz Air confirmed the bomb threat and diversion but did not disclose how the threat was received.
One of Budapest Airport's two runways was temporarily closed during the response, with other arrivals and departures handled by the remaining runway.
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October 29, 2026
The incident occurred only two weeks after another bomb threat prompted a military interception of a European passenger flight. On October 18, a Bulgarian Air Force MiG-29 escorted an Austrian Airlines Airbus A320 to Sofia after a threat was received during flight OS82 from Tel Aviv to Vienna.
No explosive was found aboard the Austrian aircraft, which resumed its journey to Vienna several hours later with its passengers back on board.
