Five flights, to and from Calcutta airport, receive hoax bomb threats, fliers searched
Telegraph | 24 October 2024
Five flights, to and from the Calcutta airport, received hoax bomb threats on Tuesday, while more than 50 domestic and international flights operated by Indian airlines received similar threats across the country.
In the past week, more than 150 flights received such threats.
On Tuesday, flights operated by IndiGo, Akasa Airlines, Vistara and Air India were among those that received false threats.
At the Calcutta airport, the Akasa Airlines flight from Pune received a security threat through social media.
“Akasa Airline’s airport manager informed the authorities about the security threat,” said an airport official. The flight, with 191 passengers and six crew members, landed at 4.38pm and was taken to the isolation bay.
All passengers and hand baggage were checked but nothing was found, said an airport official.
IndiGo’s flight from Aizawl, which arrived in Calcutta at 4.12pm, received a security threat. The flight with 135 passengers and six crew members was taken to the isolation bay and the standard security protocol was followed, said an official. The airport authorities lodged police complaints in both cases.
IndiGo said it’s flights from Calcutta to Bengaluru, Jaipur and Ahmedabad had received similar threats.
Apart from these, nine other flights of IndiGo received such threats.
These are:
“All customers were safely disembarked. At IndiGo, the safety and security of our customers and crew remain paramount in all facets of our operations. We worked closely with the relevant authorities, and standard operating procedures were followed. We sincerely regret any inconvenience this situation may have caused our customers and appreciate their understanding,” IndiGo said in a statement.
Vistara’s several flights got similar threats.
“We confirm that a few of Vistara’s flights operating on October 21, 2024 received security threats on social media. We immediately alerted the relevant authorities and are following all security procedures as directed by them. At Vistara, the safety and security of our customers, crew, and aircraft are of utmost importance,” said a Vistara spokesperson.
A spokesperson for Air India said some of it’s flights, too, received the threats.
Last Sunday, an Alliance Air flight from Lilabari in Assam to Calcutta made an emergency landing at the city airport after a false threat.
On Monday, too, around 30 flights operated by Indian airlines received such threats through social media. Three flights of IndiGo, bound for Jeddah, had to be diverted.