Over 80 flights of Air India, Akasa Air, Vistara, IndiGo receive fresh bomb threats, 250 cases in….

Around 250 flights operated by Akasa Air, Air India, IndiGo and Vistara, received bomb threats during the last 10 days with 85 flights of the same carriers receiving threats on Thursday.

Airline bomb threat: As many 85 flights of Air India, Vistara, IndiGo and Akasa Air received fresh bomb threats on Thursday, taking the number of such cases to a startling 250 in the last 10 days. Officials said 25 flights operated by Akasa Air and 20 each by Air India, IndiGo and Vistara, received bomb threats on Thursday.

A spokesperson of Akasa Air acknowledged that several flights operated by the carrier have received security alerts on October 24 (Thursday) and the situation is being monitored.

“The Akasa Air Emergency Response teams are monitoring the situation and are in touch with the security and regulatory authorities. We are following all safety and security procedures in coordination with local authorities,” the airline said in a statement.

Notably, around 170 flights, including over 90 during last week, had received bomb threats in last nine days, all of which turned out to be hoaxes, but caused severe inconveniences to passengers as authorities were forced to move the planes to isolation bays at concerned airports for detailed checks.

Govt mulls strict action

Following the spate of bomb threats, the Civil Aviation Ministry last week said it is mulling to introduce stricter norms to curb the menace of hoax bomb threats to airlines. The planned norms include placing perpetrators in the no-fly list, it said.

On Saturday, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) held a meeting with representatives of airlines while a Twitter (now X) handle which had issued bomb threats to some flights, was blocked by the platform on Sunday.

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.

A senior officer said the Delhi Police have registered eight cases in matters involving bomb threat hoaxes, adding that most of threat messages were posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) from anonymous accounts which were later taken down.

(With PTI inputs)