Amid a spate of bomb hoaxes on several flights for the past many days, at least 95 flights of IndiGo, Air India, Vistara, SpiceJet, Alliance Air and Akasa Air received similar threats on Thursday. With this, over 250 flights have been impacted by these threats for the past 10 days.
According to officials, 25 Akasa Air flights, 20 each from Air India, IndiGo and Vistara, and five each from SpiceJet and Alliance Air, got the bomb threats.
Prior to today's incident, more than 170 flights received bomb threats, with a majority of them originating from social media platforms. They later turned out to be hoaxes, inconveniencing hundreds of passengers and creating a security headache for paramilitary personnel and aviation authorities.
The bomb threats have prompted the government to plan making those involved in hoax calls be put on the no-fly list. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has said that making hoax bomb threat calls to airlines will be made a cognisable offence.
The affected flights include services from Akasa Air, Air India, IndiGo and Vistara, operating from Delhi and elsewhere across the country to various domestic and international destinations.
The Delhi Police has filed eight cases in connection with bomb threats, and according to a senior police official, the threats' messages were received through anonymous posts on X which were later suspended by the authorities.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) held a meeting with CEOs and representatives of airlines in Delhi over the issue on October 19.
Earlier on Wednesday, the central government pulled up social media giant X, for its handling of the situation and said that it amounted to "abetting crime".
Ram Mohan Naidu said on Wednesday the government was following all necessary protocols and was in control of the situation.
Asked if the threats were part of a larger conspiracy, the minister urged caution, saying, "I wouldn't make any hasty decision on this. Let us wait for the thorough investigation to happen. Once we get hold of who is behind this, only then can we tell if there is a conspiracy or if there is some intention regarding the festive season or trying to affect the airlines."
The Civil Aviation Minister emphasised the involvement of social media and cyber channels in these threats, noting that while many of the IP addresses might point to foreign locations, they could be rerouted through VPNs, complicating the investigation.
"It is not exactly my purview to tell where exactly it is coming from; the intelligence agency, the necessary departments, they're all looking through it," he said. However, he reassured the public that "we are putting in all the efforts that are required, so that our skies are safe".
