A Wizz Air flight travelling from London Luton Airport to Sofia was forced to make an emergency landing in Budapest on Monday, November 2, after receiving a bomb threat mid-flight, with a Hungarian fighter jet escorting the aircraft. Wizz Air flight 4302 departed Luton at 08:33 GMT and was due to arrive in the Bulgarian capital at 13:25 local time.
According to flight-tracking data, the Airbus A321 neo was flying over Bosnia and Herzegovina when it changed course and headed north towards Hungary, landing at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport at 12:09 local time. Hungarian Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi confirmed that a Gripen fighter jet from the Hungarian Defence Forces took to the skies within minutes to provide an escort for the passenger aircraft, before returning to its base at Kecskemet.
Control over the situation was handed over to the police on the ground immediately after the landing. According to the statement issued by Wizz Air, the aircraft landed safely at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport in compliance with the relevant security protocols and procedures.
The statement added that the aircraft taxied to a designated stand, where the necessary security check was performed thoroughly on both the aircraft and all the passengers. Wizz Air clarified later that the security check was completed completely and nothing suspicious was found.
It was also mentioned in the briefing that the aircraft would take off very soon in order to proceed towards its original destination in Sofia. Wizz Air assured the public that it is fully cooperating with the local and international aviation authorities.
The airline reiterated that the safety and security of our passengers and crew members remain our highest priority at all times. It is still not entirely clear who made the threat or whether it was initiated onboard the aircraft or from the ground.
This incident comes at a critical time when there have been a number of similar security threats in the global aviation sector in the past few months, including the hijack threat to a Flydubai flight in September.