Every year, the Indian government records the number of hoax bomb threats received by the country’s airlines. And while that figure has ranged from a couple of dozen to over 100 in recent years, 2024 has set a new record by registering 994 threats as of November 13.
Almost 1,000 hoax bomb threats received this year
India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation has revealed that, as of November 13, Indian Airlines had received 994 hoax bomb threats in 2024. In a detailed response to questions regarding the matter, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol informed Parliament of these staggering numbers.
A state-wise breakdown of the threats puts Delhi at the top with 282 threats, followed by Maharashtra at 244. This is not surprising as Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) is the country’s busiest, and Maharashtra has India’s second-busiest airport, Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM).
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The third state on the list was Karnataka, with 99 threats. Again, Karnataka is home to the third-busiest airport in the country, at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (BLR).
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Over the past few weeks, hundreds of Indian airlines’ flights have received fake bomb threats.
A breakdown of numbers according to airlines reveals that IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, was at the top with 197 threats. Next was Air India
with 178 threats, followed by Vistara with 151 threats.
Vistara has now merged with Air India
.
October was particularly bad
The threats have not been evenly spread out all through the year. The first six months of 2024 had the following numbers of threats each:
- January: 11
- February: 17
- March: 5
- April: 60
- May: 26
- June: 116
At first, it seemed that the worst may have been over, with the numbers peaking in June and crossing 100, as July recorded a massive drop in threats at 10. August and September had 21 and 15 threats, respectively, but October changed the narrative around this issue and made everyone take notice.
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More than 650 bomb threats (666, to be precise) were received in October alone. This
rattled the aviation sector in the country
as authorities tried to figure out who or what was behind such a massive surge in threats.
Many of these flights also included international services. For example, a Vistara flight to Frankfurt had to turn back to India because Afghanistan wouldn’t let it land on its territory, following a bomb threat.
It was also not a good look for Indian aviation as the optics of everything being played out in that manner threatened to impact its reputation.
Strict punishment under the law
Hoax bomb threats not only disrupt passengers’ plans due to diversions and delays but also cost airlines a lot of money because of all the protocols involved. Aircraft are meant to be flying and generating revenue for airlines, but such threats force them to stay on the ground so authorities can complete their investigation and sign it off as a hoax.
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According to India’s Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act, 1982, such acts are punishable by up to life imprisonment, and Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu has said that “amendment in the above Act and in Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023 is under consultation to make it more comprehensive as per evolving threats.”