70 bomb threats in 6 days in India

With flights operated by Indian airlines receiving an unprecedented 70 bomb threats in six days, officials from aviation safety body Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) met the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the airlines in New Delhi on Saturday.

Officials said that at the meeting, held at the civil aviation ministry's office in Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, the CEOs were asked to follow the standard operating procedure (SOP) for tackling the threats, which have been causing inconvenience to passengers and losses to carriers. 

They were also asked to keep all stakeholders informed about the threats and the action being taken. 

Over 30 bomb threats were made against flights operated by different airlines on Saturday alone. Officials said that, in the investigation so far, they have found that the IP (internet protocol) addresses from which some of the threats were issued this week were from London, Germany, Canada and the US. They did not, however, rule out the use of VPNs (virtual private networks) by the people who made the threats to hide their actual locations. 

On Saturday, Vistara said five of its flights on international routes received security threats through social media while at least four IndiGo flights received security-related alerts. The other airlines whose flights received threats were Air India, Air India Express, Akasa Air, SpiceJet, Star Air and Alliance Air.

In a statement, Akasa Air said, “Some of our flights operating on October 19, 2024, have received security alerts today. As per safety and security procedures, all passengers had to be deplaned as the local authorities followed necessary procedures. We request your understanding as our team on the ground did everything possible to reduce the inconvenience.”