More than 80 flights receive bomb threats

New Delhi: More than 80 domestic and international flights of various Indian airlines received bomb threats on Thursday, according to sources. The sources said around 20 flights each of Air India, Vistara, and IndiGo got bomb threats while Akasa Air got threats for 13 flights. Besides, around five flights each of Alliance Air and SpiceJet received the threats, they added.

In 11 days, more than 250 flights operated by the Indian carriers have received bomb threats. An IndiGo spokesperson in a statement on Thursday said it received security-related alerts for 20 flights. The flights include 6E 362 (Hyderabad to Goa), 6E 334, (Kolkata to Hyderabad), 6E 235 (Kolkata to Bengaluru), 6E 236 (Bengaluru to Kolkata), 6E 11 (Delhi to Istanbul), 6E 17 (Mumbai to Istanbul), 6E 58 (Jeddah to Mumbai) and 6E 125 (Bengaluru to Jharsuguda).

Others are 6E 133 (Pune to Jodhpur), 6E 135 (Kolkata to Pune), 6E 149 (Hyderabad to Bagdogra), 6E 196 (Kochi to Bengaluru), 6E 304 (Kochi to Hyderabad), 6E 201 (Guwahati to Kolkata), 6E 282 (Delhi to Aizawl) and 6E 277 (Ahmedabad to Lucknow).

According to the spokesperson, 6E 265 (Jaipur to Chennai), 6E 259 (Goa to Kolkata), 6E 112 (Chandigarh to Ahmedabad) and 6E 394 (Guwahati to Kolkata) also received security-related threats.

An Akasa Air spokesperson said 13 of its flights operating on Thursday received security alerts and that after thorough inspections, all the aircraft concerned were released for operations. “The airport services teams at all impacted airports coordinated with local authorities to ensure efficient handling of the situation including safe deplaning of passengers, assistance and refreshments as required,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

In a statement, a Vistara spokesperson said that a few of its flights on Thursday received security threats on social media. At least six flights to and from Kochi airport received bomb threats on Thursday. It included one SpiceJet flight from Dubai to Kochi, airport sources said.

Earlier this week, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the government plans to take legislative actions to deal with instances of bomb threats to airlines, including placing perpetrators of such threats in the no-fly list.