Bomb threats spike to 275 in 12 days as 25 flights targeted on 25 October

More than 25 domestic and international flights operated by Indian carriers received bomb threats on Friday, 25 October, 2024, according to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security.

An IndiGo spokesperson said on Friday, 25 October, 2024, that seven of its flights, including 6E 87 from Kozhikode to Dammam, received security-related alerts.

IndiGo's six other flights — 6E 2099 (Udaipur to Delhi), 6E 11 (Delhi to Istanbul), 6E 58 (Jeddah to Mumbai), 6E 17 (Mumbai to Istanbul), 6E 108 (Hyderabad to Chandigarh) and 6E 133 (Pune to Jodhpur) received the threats.

"Flight 6E 2099, operating from Udaipur to Delhi, received a bomb threat. Following security agency guidelines, the aircraft was redirected to isolation bay before take-off and standard operating procedures were followed. All passengers were safely disembarked," the airline spokesperson said in a statement.

In 12 days, more than 275 flights operated by the Indian carriers have received bomb threats. Most of the threats were issued through social media.

The government has asked social media platforms Meta and X to share data about hoax bomb threat messages to airlines and has started identifying those behind such activities.

“The IT ministry told the social media companies to promptly give the government and law enforcement agencies information related to the bomb threats. This includes, but is not limited to the details of the person posting the hoax message,” Hindustan Times reported quoting a person who attended the meeting.

The surge in hoax threats has significantly added to the burden on airlines, with numerous flights being diverted, delayed, or undergoing thorough searches due to bomb threats circulating on social media.

Some of these incidents have escalated into more serious situations. For instance, last Thursday, a bomb threat prompted Royal Air Force fighter jets to intercept an Air India flight en route from Mumbai to London.

Just two days earlier, the Singapore Armed Forces dispatched two fighter jets to guide an Air India Express flight, which had taken off from Madurai, away from densely populated areas following a similar threat.

Most recently, on Tuesday, the Nepalese Army deployed its bomb squad to Kathmandu airport after a Vistara flight arriving from Delhi received a bomb threat.