Air Serbia victim of yet another bomb-threat hoax

Air Serbia received another fake bomb threat on one of their flights to Moscow this afternoon. This is the third bomb hoax that the airline has received in five days. The threats are in response to Air Serbia continuing its service to Russia.

Third bomb threat in five days

Data from Flightradar24.com shows flight JU652 departed from Belgrade at 14:03 and was scheduled to arrive in Moscow at 18:45. Whilst flying over the Hungarian-Slovakian border, the plane was forced to turn and fly back to Belgrade after an anonymous email reported a bomb aboard the flight. The author of the email expressed their disapproval of Serbia’s diplomatic relations with Russia.

flightradar24 air serbia flight JU652 returning to belgrade after bomb threat
A screen capture from flightradar24.com showing JU652s’s return to Belgrade | © flightradar24.com

This is the third bomb threat hoax that has been called in in the last week, the first being last Friday and the second yesterday. All were carried out by email and targeted Air Serbia’s service between Belgrade and Moscow. All the threats were sent out mid-flight so that the aircraft would have to turn around and return to Belgrade. Upon arrival in Belgrade, the aircraft have all been searched by police, and the bomb threats have been confirmed false.

police confirming Air serbia bomb hoax false
Serbian Special Anti-Terrorist Unit inspecting the plane for potential bombs on Monday | © Serbian Ministry of internal affairs

Air Serbia refused to comment on the situation when asked by the local news network, N1.

Serbia criticised for Moscow flights

Serbia remains the only European country yet to close its airspace to Russia, and their national airline is the only major European carrier still operating flights to Moscow. Earlier in the conflict, Air Serbia was heavily criticised for increasing capacity on their Belgrade-Moscow service, whilst other airlines were withdrawing their routes to Russia.

Late last week, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced that the airline would be reducing its service to Moscow after what he called a “witch hunt” against his country. Air Serbia will now only operate one flight a day to Moscow,

What are your thoughts on the Air Serbia bomb scares? Let us know in the comments below!

 

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Josh McMinn
Josh McMinnhttp://joshmcminn.com
Jr Reporter - Josh is an Jr. Aviation Reporter at Travel Radar covering the latest industry news, developments and passenger experiences. Outside of reporting, Josh is a talented artist and camera operator with experience spanning several industries.

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