New Delhi: Three Vistara flights bound to international locations received bomb threats that turned out to be hoaxes while one of the aircraft was diverted to Frankfurt as a precautionary measure in the latest series of hoax calls that have hit the Indian airlines hard. In the past few days, more than 40 flights operated by the Indian carriers have made emergency landings due to security concern arising out of such hoax threats.
Such hoaxes not only create inconvenience to fliers who are forced to spend hours at airports as the aircraft awaits security clearance, but also pose a big dent in the finances of the airline company. According to a ToI report, one bomb hoax can cost an airline over Rs 3 crore. The total costs exceed Rs 3 crore when overall financial damage, which includes costs for unscheduled landing, passenger accommodations, aircraft grounding, and crew replacements, are calculated.
Costly disruptions
In a recent incident, a New York-bound Air India Boeing 777 with almost 130 tonnes of jet fuel was immediately diverted and within two hours of take-off after a bomb threat message.
“The maximum landing weight of a B777 is 250 tonnes. A full flight like this weighs about 340-350 tonnes with passengers, baggage and cargo on take-off. Landing within two hours means dumping about 100 tones of fuel. At almost Rs 1 lakh per tonne, the fuel wastage cost alone works out to Rs 1 crore,” said a senior pilot, according to TOI.
Air India’s Costly Detour: Stranded Boeing 777 In Remote Canada
Another case occurred on October 15 when an Air India Boeing 777 from Delhi to Chicago was diverted to Iqaluit, a remote town in Canada, following security concern arising out of a bomb threat. Over 200 passengers were stranded for three and a half days before they were flown to Chicago on a Canadian Air Force A330 for which AI will pay.
According to reports, AI is expected to have paid an average daily rental of about $17,000 for the stranded B777 in Iqaluit.
‘Financial Terrorism’
These threats amid the peak festive rush season have hit the airlines hard. None of the big airlines have commented on the threats as they don’t want to create a scare among travellers.
IndiGo, too, has got threats for several flights, both domestic and international.
While this event is beyond their control, airlines also face legal challenges from many passengers who miss connecting flights, said a senior official of a big airline.
‘Minors, Pranksters Involved’: Civil Aviation Minister
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.
Around 10 social media handles, the majority of them on X, have been suspended or blocked since Monday when these hoax bomb and terrorist attack threats started being sent to virtually all the Indian airliners for both their domestic and international route operations.
Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said a preliminary probe established the role of “minors and pranksters” in these bomb threats.
He said that law enforcement agencies are actively pursuing all cases of bomb threats against airlines and the government is closely monitoring the situation. “We are talking to the airlines, security agencies, within the ministry also. Consultations are going on,” he added.
A minor boy of 17 years of age from Chhattisgarh has been detained by the Mumbai Police in connection with the hoax bomb threats posted on social media platform X targeting three flights originating from Mumbai on October 14.
