A reported 90 hoax bomb threats have been made against Indian airlines in the past week, provoking international travel chaos as planes were grounded, diverted and flown to safety by fighter jet escorts.
The unprecedented surge in fake bomb threats against multiple Indian and international airlines has caused severe disruption to India’s aviation industry and created a growing sense of panic among air passengers.
Last week, there were a reported 90 bomb threats made against airlines flying domestically and to international destinations out of Indian airports. On Saturday alone, 30 hoax threats were reported, and at least 20 more threats were made to different airlines on Sunday.
Indian aviation authorities and criminal investigators have yet to uncover the source and motive of the surge in bomb threats, which are largely being sent via email or posted through anonymous accounts on social media platforms such as X. Major Indian airlines such as Air India, Vistara, SpiceJet and IndiGo have primarily been targeted but American Airlines, Jet Blue and Air New Zealand have also had threats that led to flights being diverted.
The impact on India’s airline industry has been enormous. Regulations enforce airlines to act on every threat, meaning dozens of planes have had to reroute and make emergency landings in third countries such as Turkey or Germany, or turn back to India.
On Sunday, Afghanistan refused permission for a Vistara flight bound for Frankfurt to make an emergency landing after it received a bomb threat, forcing the plane to turn back to India.
