Ryanair Boeing 737 Diverts To Berlin Following Bomb Threat

Simple Flying

By Tom Boon

Published May 31, 2021

A photo taken on May 23, 2021 shows a Boeing 737-8AS Ryanair passenger plane (flight FR4978, SP-RSM) from Athens, Greece, that was intercepted and diverted to Minsk on the same day by Belarus authorities, landing at Vilnius International Airport, its initial destination. - European Union leaders will discuss toughening their sanctions regime against Belarus on May 24 at their planned summit, after Minsk diverted the Ryanair passenger flight flying from Athens to Vilnius and arrested Belarusian opposition activist Roman Protasevich. (Photo by PETRAS MALUKAS / AFP) (Photo by PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP via Getty Images)

A Ryanair flight from Dublin to Krakow was diverted to Berlin Brandenburg Airport last night, following a bomb threat phoned into its destination airport. The incident came a week after Belarus used a bomb threat to force a Ryanair flight to land in Minsk, where an opposition journalist was arrested.

It's been a wild week for Ryanair when it comes to bomb threats. Last weekend a flight diversion led to an international uproar, and sanctions affecting Belavia. This weekend, another bomb threat affected the airline. Thankfully, with less serious implications for Europe after the flight was given the all-clear to proceed.

Berlin diversion

Yesterday a Ryanair Boeing 737 departed Dublin Airport at 17:00 on the dot, bound for Kraków in Poland. The flight had been scheduled to land in Kraków at 20:45 following a two-hour 45-minute flight. Yesterday, the aircraft instead touched down at the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport at 20:20.

The reason for the diversion was a bomb threat made against the flight. According to Polish publication RMF24, an employee of Kraków Airport received a phone call giving information that a bomb was onboard the flight.

Ryanair, Bomb Threat, Berlin — The flight landed in Berlin at 20:20. Photo: RadarBox.com

As this has since proved to be a false alarm, Polish police are looking for the person who made the threat. According to the publication, the individual who made the hoax report could face eight years in prison, with Ryanair being able to sue for damages if somebody is convicted.

Commenting on the diversion, a Ryanair spokesperson told Simple Flying,

"The crew on a Ryanair flight from Dublin to Krakow FR1901 yesterday (30 May) were notified by German ATC of a potential security threat on board. The captain followed procedures and diverted to the nearest airport, Berlin."

Following a delay of approximately eight hours, the passengers departed to Berlin on a replacement aircraft having been extensively searched by German police. A spare aircraft on the ground in Poland operated the return leg, meaning that this only experienced a delay of 15 minutes.

Lauda, London Stansted, Security Threat — This is not the first time that the airline has been faced with a bomb threat recently. Photo: Getty Images

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Not Ryanair's first bomb threat

This is not the first bomb threat that Ryanair has been forced to deal with in the past year. As mentioned above, last week international uproar was caused after Belarus used a bomb threat as a guise to prompt a Ryanair flight to land in Minsk.

Before this, another flight on the same route as yesterday's incident also became the subject of a bomb threat. On July 13th, another Ryanair flight from Dublin to Kraków was diverted, this time to Stansted, one of the UK's designated airports to handle suspected terrorist incidents. Interestingly, this was followed by a second threat in a week, with another flight from Stansted to Oslo being affected by such a threat four days later.

What do you make of last night's incident let us know what you think and why in the comments below!