At least eleven airports, across the four corners of France, had to carry out an evacuation this Wednesday late morning after “bomb threats”, the Interior Ministry confirmed to Le Figaro. The airports concerned are Lille, Bordeaux, Lyon (Bron), Nantes, Rennes, Nice, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Biarritz, Pau, Carcassonne and Beauvais. Le Figaro takes stock of the situation.
Our colleagues from La Dépêche du Midi specify, with regard to Toulouse-Blagnac airport, that the staff received an email indicating the presence of a bomb on the site around 10:30 a.m. Following the procedure, a “removal of doubt” followed, involving the intervention of the police. A police source cited by AFP explains that a similar email was received by the airports of Lille, Lyon (Bron), Nantes, Nice, Toulouse and Beauvais.
In Nice, the airport explained that “there was just one suspicious package alert, something frequent, which required the establishment of a security perimeter”. Without mentioning, however, the receipt of an email by the teams. The Nice airport clarified that “everything is back to normal”.
Vinci Airports services reported to Le Figaro that Rennes airport, which they operate, was also the subject of a bomb threat on Wednesday morning. In this terminal, as at that of Nantes and Lyon Bron, also managed by Vinci Airports, “the State services were immediately mobilized to implement the necessary measures, the terminal was evacuated while the measures were carried out necessary inspections,” the company notified.
The Hauts-de-France prefecture authorized Lille airport to reopen its doors around 1 p.m. “The Prefecture has given a favorable opinion for staff and passengers to return to the airport,” indicates Lille airport on its X account (formerly Twitter).
A spokesperson for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) confirmed to Le Figaro that “bomb alerts” had been triggered on Wednesday morning as well as “evacuations of terminals” on four platforms – Lille, Lyon, Toulouse and Beauvais.
Around 2 p.m., at least four French airports were still at a standstill, according to air traffic watchdog Eurocontrol: Toulouse, Beauvais, Bordeaux and Pau. Activity gradually resumed in Nice, Lyon (Bron), then Lille, as well as in Pau and Biarritz.
According to the DGAC’s online dashboard, three airports were experiencing significant delays shortly after midday: Toulouse-Blagnac (two hours on arrival, one and a half hours on departure), Lille-Lesquin (one and a half hours on arrival and departure) and Beauvais-Tillé (nearly two hours from departure).
Flights from Marrakech, Geneva and Constantine, which were due to land between 11:05 a.m. and 11:40 a.m., were diverted, it is stated on the Lille airport website. “State security services are on site,” the airport said on X.
Contacted, the ADP group (formerly Aéroports de Paris) – which manages the Paris Charles de Gaulle, Paris Orly and Paris Le Bourget airports – assured for its part that it was not concerned, at this stage, by these bomb threats which affect many major French airports.
“None of the Paris airports are affected by the bomb threats. We nevertheless obviously remain fully vigilant,” explains the company to Le Figaro.
In addition to Parisian airports this Wednesday, the Château de Versailles, one of the most visited sites in France, was once again the subject of an evacuation for a bomb threat. This is the third time in five days. The Louvre Museum also had to close its doors last weekend for security reasons.
Bomb threats in public places have increased since the attack on a high school in Arras. A literature professor, Dominique Bernard, died there. The situation in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine has caused a wave of attacks in Europe in recent days.
After the assassination with semi-automatic weapons of two Swedish tourists in Brussels on Monday evening, a synagogue was targeted with Molotov cocktails in Berlin on Wednesday morning, without however causing any casualties.
