Over 25 Flights Receive Fresh Bomb Threats: Report

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

New Delhi/ Mumbai:

More than 25 domestic and international flights operated by Indian carriers received bomb threats on Friday, according to sources.

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

On Thursday, over 70 flights received bomb threats.

An IndiGo spokesperson said 7 of its flights, including 6E 87 from Kozhikode to Dammam, got security-related alerts.

The sources in the know said around 7 flights each of IndiGo, Vistara and SpiceJet got the threats while 6 flights of Air India received the threats.

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 the isolation bay before take-off and standard operating procedures were followed. All passengers were safely disembarked," the airline spokesperson said in a statement.

Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Friday assured the government is committed to taking strict action against those behind hoax bomb threats.

"We are deeply concerned In the wake of recent hoax bomb threats disrupting air travel. I assure you that safety and security are our highest priorities, and we are committed to taking strict action against those behind these malicious acts.

"Let's work together to ensure safe skies for all," he said in a post on X.

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.

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

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)