Delhi-London Vistara flight gets bomb threat, diverted to Frankfurt

After security checks, the flight was cleared for take off and later landed at London at around 11.40 pm local time on Friday

New Delhi: A London-bound Vistara flight from Delhi was diverted to Frankfurt after a bomb threat that later turned out to be a hoax, an official said on Saturday.

In a statement early this morning, an airline spokesperson said the flight landed safely at the Frankfurt airport. After security checks, the flight was cleared for take off and later landed at London at around 11.40 pm local time on Friday.

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“Vistara flight UK17 operating from Delhi to London on October 18, 2024 received a security threat on social media. In line with the protocol, all relevant authorities were immediately informed and as a precautionary measure, the pilots decided to divert the flight to Frankfurt,” the spokesperson said. According to the official, the flight had received a bomb threat.

Meanwhile, Akasa Air said its flight QP 1366 scheduled to fly from Bengaluru to Mumbai on Friday received a security alert shortly before departure.

 

#DiversionUpdate: Flight UK17 from Delhi to London (DEL-LHR) has been diverted to Frankfurt (FRA) and is expected to arrive in Frankfurt at 2110 LT ( Local Time). Please stay tuned for further updates.

— Vistara (@airvistara) October 18, 2024

“Hence as per safety and security procedures, all passengers had to be deplaned as the local authorities followed necessary procedures. We request your understanding as our team on ground did everything possible to reduce inconvenience,” the airline said in a post on X.

In the past few days, nearly 40 flights operated by the Indian carriers have received bomb threats which later turned out to be hoaxes. 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.