Heathrow and Birmingham airports received threats that were assessed as not credible, it is understood, as flights were diverted across Europe after a series of bomb alerts.
Operations continued as normal at both airports as bomb alerts led to flights being diverted across Europe.
At least a dozen flights were confirmed to have been targeted with bomb threats on Thursday, including services from Copenhagen, Helsinki, Madrid, Milan and Warsaw.
The alerts followed hoax security threats earlier in the week affecting several planes, including some departing from the UK and Ireland.
A Ryanair flight from London Stansted to Sofia was diverted and landed safely in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, according to the Associated Press.
An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was also diverted to northern France as a security precaution.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said a small number of flights had been disrupted and described the threats as malicious hoaxes.
Ms Alexander said: “We do have some of the most robust aviation security systems anywhere in the world and we have established processes for dealing with hoax and malicious threats, and that’s what these threats have been.”
A UK Government spokesperson said threats reported in the early hours of Thursday had been resolved and that the Metropolitan Police’s Aviation Policing Command was monitoring the situation.
A Birmingham Airport spokesperson said: “The safety and security of customers and colleagues is always our highest priority.
“In line with UK aviation security standards, processes were immediately initiated in conjunction with emergency services and partners.”
The French prime minister’s office said the Dublin to Rome aircraft landed safely at Evreux air base, where 151 passengers and six crew were brought to safety and bomb disposal teams intervened.
Aer Lingus said: “The flight landed safely and Aer Lingus will work to reaccommodate customers to their final destination as soon as possible.”
Finnair said two flights from Helsinki, one to Rome and the other to Vienna, faced unfounded or hoax bomb threats.
Both landed at their destinations and passengers disembarked safely, the airline said.
Nothing unusual was found when the Rome aircraft was inspected, while checks on the Vienna aircraft were continuing, according to Finnair.
There were 144 passengers and seven crew on the Rome flight and 177 passengers and six crew on the Vienna flight.
WizzAir said two flights from Milan were targeted: one landed as planned in Bucharest, while a Warsaw-bound service was diverted to Vienna and landed safely.
Joji Waites, director of flight safety, policy and regulation at the British Airline Pilots’ Association, said threats are assessed as red, amber or green according to their credibility.
Mr Waites said: “Usually, if a plane is still on the tarmac, that will mean an evacuation, and if it is in the air, the priority will be to land the plane as soon and as safely as possible.”
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