Flight Chaos: Over 70 Indian Airlines Receive Bomb Threats This Week

New Delhi/ Mumbai: More than 30 flights of various Indian airlines, including Vistara, Air India and IndiGo, received bomb threats on Saturday, according to sources.

Flights of Air India , IndiGo, Akasa Air, Vistara, SpiceJet, Star Air and Alliance Air have received the threats, the sources said.

So far this week, at least 70 flights of Indian carriers have received bomb threats and most of them turned out to be hoaxes.

The sources said more than 30 flights, including domestic and international ones, operated by domestic airlines have received bomb threats 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.

Security Protocols Activated for Affected Flights

On Saturday, Vistara said five of its flights on international routes received security threats through social media while IndiGo said at least four of its flights got security-related alerts.

The five flights of Vistara are UK106 (Singapore to Mumbai), UK027 (Mumbai to Frankfurt), UK107 (Mumbai to Singapore), UK121 (Delhi to Bangkok) and UK131 (Mumbai to Colombo).

"Following the protocol, all relevant authorities were promptly alerted and all security procedures are being adhered to, as per the guidance from the authorities and security agencies," an airline spokesperson said in a statement.

Vistara and IndiGo Flights Under Scrutiny

Besides, there was a security concern regarding Vistara flight UK624 from Udaipur to Mumbai, and after landing, the aircraft was taken to an isolation bay for mandatory checks.

A note was found in the lavatory of the aircraft saying there is a bomb in the flight, a source in the know said.

IndiGo issued statements for at least four flights with respect to the threats. They are 6E17 (Mumbai to Istanbul), 6E11 (Delhi to Istanbul), 6E184 (Jodhpur to Delhi) and 6E108 (Hyderabad to Chandigarh).

The airline said it is cognisant of a situation involving flights from Mumbai and Delhi to Istanbul.

Regarding the Jodhpur to Delhi flight, the carrier said the plane landed in the national capital and customers have disembarked the aircraft.

About Hyderabad to Chandigarh flight, IndiGo said that upon landing, the aircraft was isolated and all passengers were safely disembarked. Sources said that the plane was being checked at Chandigarh airport thoroughly by the airport authorities at the isolation bay.

Previous Threats and Government Response

Three international flights of Vistara on Friday received bomb threats which turned out to be hoaxes and one of the flights was diverted to Frankfurt as a precautionary measure.

In the past few days, more than 40 flights operated by the Indian carriers have received bomb threats which later turned out to be hoaxes.

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.