Multiple flights of Air India, Akasa, Indigo, Vistara receive fresh bomb threats

Agencies & PTI, 20 Oct 2024, New Delhi : Over 20 flights from Indian airlines received bomb threats on Sunday, prompting emergency responses, though many threats this week have been confirmed as hoaxes.

As many as 24 flights of Indian airlines received bomb threats on Sunday amid a spate of hoaxes. “IndiGo, Vistara, Akasa Air and Air India are among the airlines that received bomb threats, including international flights," sources told PTI on Sunday. Six flights each of IndiGo, Vistara and Air India received the threats. With this, over 90 flights have received bomb threats in last few days.

Indigo : IndiGo confirmed it was aware of threats concerning six of its flights, including 6E 58 from Jeddah to Mumbai, 6E 87 from Kozhikode to Dammam, and 6E 11 and 6E 17, both flying to Istanbul. Additional flights mentioned were 6E 133 from Pune to Jodhpur and 6E 112 from Goa to Ahmedabad. In one of their posts on X, IndiGo said, “We are cognisant of a situation involving flight 6E 58 operating from Jeddah to Mumbai. The safety and security of our passengers and crew is our highest priority and we are working closely with the relevant authorities and taking all necessary precautions as per the guidelines.”

Akasa Air flights: Akasa Air spokesperson shared details of flights operating on October 20 that received security alerts. These were: QP 1102 flying from Ahmedabad to Mumbai, QP 1378 flying from Delhi to Goa, QP 1385 flying from Mumbai to Bagdogra, QP 1406 flying from Delhi to Hyderabad, QP 1519 flying from Kochi to Mumbai and QP 1526 flying from Lucknow to Mumbai.

"The Akasa Air Emergency Response team was immediately activated and initiated all standard operating procedures, including informing regulatory authorities and monitoring the situation in real-time," the spokesperson was quoted by ANI as saying. 

The official added, “Refreshments and passenger needs were addressed as required. Following defined procedures and thorough inspections of six aircraft.

”Vistara: The airline said it got security threats for six flights – UK25 (Delhi to Frankfurt), UK106 (Singapore to Mumbai), UK146 (Bali to Delhi), UK116 (Singapore to Delhi), UK110 (Singapore to Pune) and UK107 (Mumbai to Singapore).

"In line with the protocols, all relevant authorities were immediately notified, and security procedures, as directed by them, are being carried out," a Vistara spokesperson was quoted by PTI as saying on Sunday.

Air India: The sources said on Sunday there were threats for at least six flights of Air India. There was no comment from the airline.

Bomb threats

Earlier on Saturday, more than 30 flights operated by Indian airlines received bomb threats, sending security agencies into a tizzy and causing hardships to hundreds of passengers as well as staff at airports. Flights of Air India, Vistara, IndiGo, Akasa Air, SpiceJet, Star Air, and Alliance Air received bomb threats on Saturday, sources told news agency PTI.

The sources said more than 30 flights received bomb threats mostly through social media since Saturday morning. In at least one of the flights, a note was found in the lavatory saying there was a bomb in the flight. The handle on X, through which some of the bomb threats to flights were issued, has been deactivated.

So far this week, more than 90 domestic and international flights of Indian airlines have received bomb threats, with most of them turning out to be hoaxes. As many as six flights of Vistara, five each of IndiGo and Akasa Air received security threats, according to the airlines.

In the wake of the bomb threats, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) held a meeting with CEOs and representatives of airlines in Delhi on Saturday. Meanwhile, the civil aviation ministry plans to put in place strict norms to prevent incidents of hoax bomb threats to airlines, including placing the perpetrators in the no-fly list, PTI reported.