Fourteen French airports received new threats of attacks this Thursday, October 19, and at least eight carried out evacuations after these bomb threats, causing a second consecutive day of major disruptions to flight operations.
Already on Wednesday, most major French airports, with the exception of two in Paris, were temporarily evacuated after threats, leading to the cancellation of 130 flights and countless delays. These alerts have been increasing for several days in France, particularly since the attack which cost the life of teacher Dominique Bernard in Arras (Pas-de-Calais).
On Thursday, the evacuations concerned, according to a source close to the matter, the airports of Brest (Finistère), Carcassonne (Aude), Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine), Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées), Bordeaux-Mérignac (Gironde), Béziers ( Hérault), Montpellier (Hérault) and Nantes (Loire-Atlantique).
“Threats of attack”
Contacted by AFP, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) confirms that “several national airports, including that of Nantes, received threats of attack this morning”, without giving a number or name, in the face of a fluctuating situation.
Some airports have communicated on the subject themselves. Lille airport indicated at the end of the morning on the gradual reopening of the airport. Beauvais airport (Oise), already evacuated on Wednesday, was evacuated again on Thursday “following an anonymous threat received by several airports” including this installation specializing in low-cost flights, the manager indicated on its website . “Nantes airport was once again the subject of a bomb threat this Thursday morning, as were other French airports,” the airport told AFP. “In agreement with state services, the terminal is evacuated while the necessary checks are carried out.” The airports of Tarbes-Lourdes and Carcassonne confirmed to AFP that they had also been evacuated, after new bomb threats.
Systematic complaint filing
Béziers-Cap d’Agde airport is also affected by a bomb threat, the Hérault prefecture also told AFP, without giving further details.
In Montpellier, a “bomb alert” was also in progress, the prefect of Hérault, Francois-Xavier Lauch, indicated late in the morning on X. “Evacuation and securing of people, law enforcement present on site to establish a security perimeter, mine clearance experts triggered to remove doubts,” added Francois-Xavier Lauch on the social network. “This had little impact on travelers, since only one flight was planned, for London, at the end of the morning,” airport spokesperson Sylvain Jambon told AFP.
The alert at Bordeaux-Mérignac was lifted at the start of the afternoon, “airport activities are gradually resuming”, announced the operator on its website. “It’s a strong power of nuisance, but hey, we take zero risks. Regardless of the level of surveillance: we have ‘processes’ as an establishment open to the public, from the moment there is an alert to the bomb means total evacuation, zero risk,” Sophie Vergnères, spokesperson for the installation, explained to AFP. On Wednesday, “we evacuated for three hours, with a dozen flights canceled and a dozen delayed,” she added, without being able to quantify the economic impact immediately.
A police source told AFP that the airports of Nantes, Bordeaux, Lille, but also Nice had received threats of attack by email. Contacted by AFP, the latter airport indicated that no evacuation was in progress, contrary to what had been indicated by certain media.
“Organized false alarms are dangerous and unacceptable. They are heavily punished: up to two years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros,” Minister Delegate for Transport Clément Beaune stressed on Wednesday evening on X (ex-Twitter). “Each case is the subject of a complaint being filed by the airport, as I have requested from the DGAC. The courts have been seized,” he warned.