Several airports were evacuated on Wednesday October 18 after receiving bomb threats. The Palace of Versailles was also targeted by a third alert in a few days. Threats taken seriously only a few days after the Arras attack.
Grave alerts are increasing and six airports are or were the subject of terrorist threats this Wednesday, October 18: those of Lille, Bron, Nice, Nantes, Toulouse and Beauvais, near Paris, in particular. It was an anonymous message sent by email which posed the threat to certain airports such as Lille-Lesquin where the alert was received at 10 a.m. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) indicated that “threats were received by email and by telephone”. Other structures have received reports of bomb threats due to the presence of suspicious packages or abandoned luggage, as was the case at Nice airport.
Airports are not the only ones affected, since the Palace of Versailles was also targeted by a bomb threat this Wednesday. This is the third terrorist threat launched against the tourist landmark in five days – the previous alerts having been reported on Sunday and Tuesday. The Palace of Versailles, like the airports, have all been evacuated as a security measure and “doubt removal” operations are or have been carried out by the police.
Evacuation measures decided in the event of a bomb threat or other threats are only taken when the risk is considered serious, taking into account the inconvenience caused. But the Ministry of the Interior explained to Le Parisien that these measures were required by “the precautionary principle”, particularly after the attacks that occurred in recent days. A terrorist attack took place in a high school in Arras on Friday October 13, and a terrorist shooting broke out in Brussels on October 16. The authorities therefore consider it necessary to “resolve doubts” with the intervention of law enforcement and mine clearance services.
If the security measures simply involve the evacuation of places in certain places, such as tourist monuments like the Palace of Versailles, in airports or train stations traffic is interrupted in addition to the evacuation. The DGAC indicates that for each airport affected by the alerts, air traffic is suspended and no more planes are taking off. As for the passengers, they disembarked at the end of the runway and did not reach the terminal, or had to wait in their plane.
Lille-Lesquin airport was one of the first to receive a bomb threat this Wednesday, but after an evacuation and an operation to remove doubts the alert ended at the very beginning of the afternoon and “the Prefecture has given a favorable opinion for staff and passengers to re-enter the airport” warned the airport on X (former Twitter).
At Bron and Nice airports, the doubt has also been lifted and the situation has returned to normal. The first mentions a “false bomb threat”. Nice airport, for its part, informed on place a security perimeter. But everything is back to normal.”
It was also a suspicious package which prompted the evacuation of Toulouse-Blagnac airport as well as the establishment of a security perimeter. Same situation at Beauvais airport according to Le Parisien where two terminals are evacuated. Nantes-Atlantique airport also had to be evacuated due to a suspicious package.
Other airports were affected by these threats and bomb threats according to the DGAC: those of Rennes, Strasbourg, Biarritz and Pau. The DGAC does not provide further details. If these airports are evacuated to remove doubts, “serious threats” are not systematically identified.
