New Delhi: A total of 728 hoax bomb threats were received by airline operators across India in 2024 and 13 individuals were arrested in that regard, minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol told Parliament on Monday.
In a written reply to member of Parliament (MP) Parimal Nathani, Mohol said that according to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the country’s aviation security regulator, IndiGo saw the maximum bomb hoax calls (216), followed by Air India (179), former airline Vistara (153), Akasa Air (72), SpiceJet (35), Alliance Air (26), Air India Express (19) and Star Air (5).
“As per Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, aviation security regulator in the country, a total of 728 hoax bomb threats have been received by Airline Operators in 2024…Total 13 persons have been arrested in 2024 in connection with hoax bomb threats,” he said.
Foreign airlines, too, received hoax calls, the minister said, however adding that the numbers were miniscule. Dubai’s carrier Emirates received five such calls while Air Arabia received three such calls. As per the government data, Air Canada, Aeroflot, Etihad, Cathay Pacific, Nok Air and Thai Lion Air received one such call each.
“Bureau of Civil Aviation Security has mandated robust protocols for handling such threats,” Mohol said.
He said that the Bomb Threat Contingency Plan (BTCP), a detailed contingency plan, is in place to handle such threats and as a part of BTCP, every airport has a designated Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC), which analyses the threat and acts accordingly.
“In order to deal with hoax bomb threats, BCAS has issued advisories to all the Civil Aviation stakeholders in the country to ensure streamlined security measures and to prevent any unlawful interference with civil aviation,” he said.
According to government data, 680 hoax calls were received in October last year. 1143 hoax bomb threats were made to domestic airlines between August 2022 and November 13, of which 994 were received this year itself, government data revealed.
Mohol, in November, had said that 27 hoax bomb threat calls were received between August and December 2022. The number increased to 122 in 2023, while 2024 alone witnessed a sharp rise, with 994 calls reported as of mid-November 2024.