Three Vistara flights receive bomb threats; one diverted to Frankfurt on Friday

PTI, Oct 19, 2024, 10:17 AM IST

New Delhi: Three international flights of Vistara airline that received bomb threats turned out to be hoaxes while one of the aircrafts was diverted to Frankfurt as a precautionary measure, officials said on Saturday.

In a statement, a Vistara spokesperson said the three flights operating out of Delhi received security threats on social media on Friday and as per protocol, all the relevant authorities were promptly alerted.

The officials said the flights to London, Paris and Hong Kong from the national capital received bomb threats that later turned out to be hoaxes.

“Vistara flight UK17 operating from Delhi to London was diverted to Frankfurt as a precautionary measure. The aircraft landed at Frankfurt Airport safely and we fully cooperated with the authorities to complete the necessary checks following which, the flight was cleared to conclude the journey,” the spokesperson said.

The flight later landed at London at around 1140 pm local time on Friday.

The airline also said the flight UK21 operating from Delhi to Paris landed safely at the Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. The aircraft was taken to the isolation bay for the mandatory security checks and then later cleared to resume operations.

According to the airline, the flight UK161 operating from Delhi to Hong Kong landed safely at the Hong Kong International Airport and all security procedures were adhered to.

Meanwhile, Akasa Air on Saturday early morning said its flight QP 1366 scheduled to fly from Bengaluru to Mumbai on Friday received a security alert shortly before departure.

“Hence 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 ground did everything possible to reduce inconvenience,” the airline said in a post on X.

A Dubai-Jaipur Air India Express flight made an emergency landing at the Jaipur airport in the early hours of Saturday due to a bomb threat, which later turned out to be a hoax, officials said.

After authorities were alerted about the threat, an emergency was declared at the airport. The flight with 189 passengers onboard landed safely at the airport at 1.20 am, an official said, adding that the plane was checked thoroughly but nothing suspicious was found.

In the past few days, more than 40 flights operated by the Indian carriers have received bomb threats which later turned out to be hoaxes.

The Civil Aviation Ministry plans to put in place strict norms to prevent incidents of hoax bomb threats to airlines, including placing the perpetrators in the no-fly list.