Wave of Bomb Threats Disrupts Multiple Airlines, Causing International Flight Diversions

The series of fake bomb blast threats being received by planes for the past one week is not stopping. This week, about 50 threatening calls have given sleepless nights to the security agencies. Meanwhile, on Saturday also, five Akasa Air and five Indigo flights have received bomb threats. The case of threats received on 11 planes in the last 24 hours has created a ruckus not only in Delhi but also at airports abroad. Vistara flight (UK17) from Delhi to London was diverted to Frankfurt, Germany after a bomb threat. While Jaipur-Dubai Air India Express flight (IX 196) was threatened, which turned out to be fake.

Air India Express also received threat

Due to bomb threat in Dubai-Jaipur Air India Express flight, Jaipur-Dubai (IX 195) flight was delayed in taking off from the airport, the flight was scheduled to take off at 6:10 am, which left for Dubai at 7:45 am after the threat. The flight was heading towards its destination, meanwhile, the Vistara flight which was diverted to Frankfurt later took off for London. A Vistara spokesperson said, 'Vistara flight UK17, flying from Delhi to London on October 18, 2024, received a threat on social media. In line with protocol, all concerned authorities were immediately informed and as a precaution, the pilots decided to divert the flight to Frankfurt.'

Passengers deboarded

On the other hand, Akasa Airlines said, 'Some of our flights scheduled to operate on October 19, 2024 have received a security alert today. As per security and protocol procedures, all passengers had to deboard the aircraft as local authorities followed the necessary procedures. We request your understanding as our team on the ground made every effort to minimize inconvenience.'

Threat received just before takeoff

Akasa Airlines flight from Bengaluru to Mumbai received a bomb threat shortly before takeoff. The airline said in a statement, 'Flight QP 1366 flying from Bengaluru to Mumbai on Friday received a security alert shortly before departure. However, as per SOP, the aircraft was thoroughly checked for security at Mumbai airport. No objectionable object was found. After this, after the security check, the aircraft was given NOC for flight, the aircraft took off from Mumbai to Bengaluru with a delay of several hours.