70 threats in a week: BCAS holds meeting of airline CEOs over series of hoax bomb calls

Most bomb threats were received through social media and all of them turned out to be hoaxes.

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is holding a meeting of airline CEOs in New Delhi over the series of hoax bomb calls received in the last four days.

Earlier today, a Dubai-Jaipur Air India Express flight made an emergency landing at the Jaipur International Airport due to a bomb threat, which later turned out to be a hoax. Several other airlines, both on domestic and international routes, have been receiving such threats.

Most bomb threats were received through social media and all of them turned out to be hoaxes. More than 30 flights of various Indian airlines, including Vistara, Air India and IndiGo, received bomb threats on Saturday alone, leading to diversions and rescheduling of flights and sending security forces into a tizzy.

Vistara said five of its flights on international routes received security threats through social media while IndiGo said at least four of its flights got security-related alerts.

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.

So far this week, at least 70 flights of Indian carriers have received bomb threats and most of them turned out to be hoaxes.

-This is a developing story