Six airports in France were subjected to evacuations on Tuesday due to received "threats of attack" conveyed via email, according to information from a police source disclosed to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The decision to evacuate Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Nice, Toulouse, and Beauvais Airport near Paris was made in order to eliminate any uncertainties about the credibility of these threats, the source explained.
By midday, several airports had received bomb threats, and there were reports of forgotten luggage that required intervention from the authorities. Beauvais Airport posted on its Facebook page that "an anonymous threat received by several airports."
A spokesperson from France's DGAC aviation authority confirmed evacuations due to bomb threats at Lille, Lyon, Toulouse, and Beauvais airports but couldn't provide immediate additional information. The DGAC's online dashboard indicated significant delays at Lille, Lyon, and Toulouse. A post on Nice airport's X (formerly Twitter) account stated that, "following an abandoned baggage item... a security perimeter was set up to allow the usual checks." "The situation has now returned to normal,"
Authorities at Lyon's Bron airport also confirmed that the all-clear had been given. In Lille, an airport spokesperson mentioned that three flights had been redirected, while a post on its X account reported the presence of security forces on the scene.
Officials at Lyon's Bron airport confirmed that they had declared the situation safe. Meanwhile, in Lille, a spokesperson for the airport stated that three flights had been rerouted, and a post on its X account indicated the presence of security forces at the location.
Passengers expressed confusion on social media, with some appearing unaware of the reasons for their evacuation from airports.
These incidents occurred in the wake of other bomb threats in France, which had increased following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7 and a fatal stabbing of a teacher in the northern city of Arras on Friday. The attacker in the stabbing incident claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group.
