ISTANBUL, TURKEY — Although many airline operators around the world have suspended their flights to and from Russia, some carriers from neutral countries are continuing their flights to the destinations in the isolated country from the international community.

According to "Hungary Today", the Hungarian Defense Forces had to scramble two Gripen jets on March 22 after a bomb threat was reported for a Turkish Airlines flight from Moscow to Istanbul.

The bomb warning was made when the plane was flying over Polish territory. After the notice, NATO’s Joint Air Operations Center at Torrejon, Spain scrambled two Hungarian Gripen fighter jets from Kecskemét Air Force base to escort the Turkish jet.

The Gripens escorted the aircraft up to the Romanian border.


Two F-16 jets from the Romanian Air Force took over the escort mission for the Turkish flight THK418 at the Romanian airspace. Turkish Airlines Airbus A330-200 jet with registration TC-JNB finally landed at Istanbul Airport at 17.15 UTC. safely.

Turkish Airlines and Air Serbia are the only airlines in Europe to allow passengers to travel between Russia and European countries. Both airlines have been exposed to bomb threats recently.