Austrian Airlines flight resumes journey after Sofia bomb-threat search finds no danger

An Austrian Airlines flight carrying 51 passengers and six crew diverted from its Tel Aviv–Vienna route to Sofia on October 18, 2026, after a reported bomb threat. According to the airline, the checks revealed no danger, and every passenger remained aboard when the flight resumed its journey to Vienna that night.²³⁴

Escort and inspection

The crew reported receiving the threat as the aircraft approached the Romanian border, according to Bulgaria’s transport ministry. The ministry said a Bulgarian Air Force fighter escorted flight OS82 and that authorities began inspecting the aircraft after passengers had disembarked in Sofia.⁶

The Straits Times and AGERPRES reported that the Bulgarian Air Force launched MiG-29 fighter jets after the threat was reported. The BBC described the arrival in Sofia as an emergency landing and said passengers were evacuated. It reported that no injuries had been reported.¹²⁴

Accounts described the aircraft’s position at different points in the diversion. The Bulgarian ministry placed the crew’s threat report near the Romanian border, while the BBC said the aircraft was over Romania when it diverted. According to the BBC, it landed in Sofia three hours after leaving Ben Gurion Airport.¹⁶

Search completed, journey resumed

Austrian Airlines confirmed that the threat concerned its October 18 service from Tel Aviv to Vienna and required a stop in Sofia. The checks covered the aircraft as well as passengers and crew, the airline said in its account of the incident.²⁴

“During the search of the affected aircraft, the passengers, and the crew, no danger was identified,” Austrian Airlines said. The Straits Times and Middle East Eye reported that all passengers were aboard when OS82 continued from Sofia to Vienna later that night.²³

According to The Straits Times, an Austrian citizen who was not aboard the aircraft called in the threat. That account of the caller’s identity remains unconfirmed. Separately, the BBC reported that an investigation into the incident had begun.¹²

Vienna Airport, the Austrian interior ministry and Lufthansa Group did not respond to requests for comment, according to The Straits Times and AGERPRES. The Jerusalem Post reported that the incident took place neither in nor near Israeli airspace and that the Israel Air Force was not involved.²⁴⁵