Summary
- Bomb threat on Vistara’s Paris-Mumbai flight prompts emergency procedures at Mumbai airport.
- There has been an increase in bomb threats in India, with nearly all airlines facing hoax calls in recent times.
- Vistara’s European network includes flights to Paris, Frankfurt, and London from Delhi and Mumbai.
A full emergency was declared at Mumbai airport on Sunday after a bomb threat was discovered on a Paris-Mumbai flight. The Dreamliner aircraft was carrying more than 300 people and the airline fully cooperated with the security agencies after landing to help with the investigation. This is the latest in a series of bomb threats in India in the last few days, triggering emergency procedures at airports.
Bomb threat on air sickness bag
A Vistara flight between Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) received a bomb threat on June 2. The threatening note was found written on an air sickness bag, prompting authorities to launch emergency procedures at the airport.
Photo: BoeingMan777 | Shutterstock
According to sources, there were 294 passengers and 12 crew members on the flight. The incident took place on Vistara flight UK 24, a scheduled Boeing 787 service between Paris and Mumbai with a departure time of 21:30 and arrival of 09:50. On June 2, the flight landed at just after 10:00 in the morning. Simple Flying contacted Vistara and received the following statement from a spokesperson,
“We confirm that a security concern has been noted by our staff while onboard Vistara flight UK 024 operating from Paris to Mumbai on 2 June 2024. Following the protocol, we immediately informed the relevant authorities. The flight has landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai and we are fully cooperating with the security agencies for all the mandatory checks. At Vistara, safety and security of our customers, crew and aircraft is of paramount importance to us.”
Recent bomb threats in India
The Vistara incident is one of several others reported in the last few days. Last week, an IndiGo flight 6E2211 from Delhi to Varanasi, with a departure time of 05:00, had to be evacuated after a note with a bomb threat was found in its lavatory. It stated, “bomb@5:30.”
The incident was also in the news because several passengers and even crew members did not follow evacuation safety protocols and carried their hand luggage while coming down the evacuation slides.
A few days later, two separate domestic IndiGo flights received bomb threats. The first was on a Chennai-Mumbai flight, again triggering a full emergency situation at Mumbai airport. The threat warned pilots not to land in Mumbai. The aircraft was taken to an isolation bay and safely evacuated.
Not too long after that, another IndiGo flight from Varanasi to Delhi received a bomb threat, and the plane was safely evacuated upon landing in Delhi. While airlines have faced such threats over the years, it’s disconcerting that they are increasing in frequency these days.
Photo: kbp.spotter | Shutterstock
Vistara’s Europe network
Vistara’s Paris-Mumbai flight that faced the bomb threat is one of several others in the carrier’s European network. The airline has scheduled flights to Frankfurt and Paris from Mumbai and to Paris, Frankfurt, and London from Delhi.
Photo: Abdul N Quraishi – Abs | Shutterstock
Vistara will soon merge with another Tata Group airline, Air India. Both airlines are currently busy obtaining all the regulatory approvals and integrating their staff and processes.
Related
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The airline received its final 787-9 and launched a new route to Paris Charles de Gaulle.
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