Estonia: Police out in extra force at Tallinn Airport on Tuesday

A bomb threat made against flights from Tallinn to Germany have forced police to be out in extra force in Tallinn Airport and the surrounding region Tuesday.

The situation at the airport has remained the same since Monday, spokespeople for the Internal Security Service (KaPo) reported. This means an increase in police presence and also a continuing investigation to find the person who phoned in the threat.

The police will take elevated security measures at the airport this week, but these aren’t expected to impact passengers, and departing flights will take place as planned, the airport stated.

Tallinn Airport and KaPo received phone calls after 2 a.m. Monday from a man identifying himself a member of the Islamic State group who declared his intention to blow up a plane en route from Tallinn to Germany within a week. The caller spoke English, from an Estonian cell phone number located in the Estonian territory.

Police promptly made an extra check of the security of Tallinn Airport and outbound flights. Security measures at the airport were strengthened as well.

KaPo opened a criminal probe into the threat against aviation safety. The proceeding is headed by the Office of the Prosecutor General.

Latvia's national airline airBaltic will operate its Tallinn-Berlin route scheduled for Tuesday, airBaltic's spokesman Janis Vanags told BNS.

Despite the bomb threat and extra security measures on the airBaltic route, the number of expected passengers on Tuesday's route increased 10 per cent.