11 Vistara Flights Get Bomb Threats

New Delhi, India: Eleven Vistara flights were reported to have received bomb threats on Tuesday, contributing to a growing list of hoax calls that have triggered significant security concerns in the aviation sector. The Vistara flight arrived in Nepal’s Kathmandu from New Delhi. Chief District Officer Jay Naryan Acharya confirmed that the “Nepal Army bomb disposal team has been sent to the airport for complete inspection.” This alarming trend follows a recent incident where a London-bound Vistara flight from Delhi (UK17) was diverted to Frankfurt after a similar threat was made.

The situation escalated further as a Jaipur-Dubai Air India Express flight (IX 196) also received a bomb threat, which was later confirmed to be a hoax. Additionally, five Akasa Air flights and five IndiGo flights faced bomb threats on the same day. 

These incidents, involving a series of hoax calls, have raised serious concerns within the aviation sector. The total number of such threats received by airlines this week has now surged to nearly 200, with the exact figure reaching 169. Despite the fact that these threats have been deemed false, they have caused massive disruptions, triggering emergency security procedures and impacting flight operations.

50 Domestic and International Flights Receive Bomb Threats

For the unversed, nearly 50 domestic and international flights of Indian carriers received bomb threats on Tuesday, taking the total number of flights that have received the threats since Monday night to around 80. People familiar with the matter said 13 flights each of Air India and IndiGo, over 12 flights of Akasa Air and 11 flights of Vistara received the threats on Tuesday. On Monday night, 10 flights each of Air India , IndiGo and Vistara had received the threats, with three Jeddah-bound IndiGo flights getting diverted to airports in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

‘Things Can Not Be Taken Lightly’ 

Even though bomb threats are hoaxes, things cannot be taken non-seriously, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Monday. Meanwhile, the government is planning legislative actions to deal with bomb threats to airlines, including placing the perpetrators on the no-fly list.

Amendments are being proposed to The Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act (SUASCA), 1982, whereby the perpetrators could be arrested and a probe can be initiated without a court order for offences when an aircraft is on the ground.

Also, changes are being planned to aircraft security rules to ensure stringent punishment for perpetrators of bomb threats to flights.