An Ayodhya-bound Air India Express flight on Tuesday received a bomb threat, which was sent via phone call for the IX 765 flight that flew from Jaipur at 12.25 pm.
“Air India Express flight makes emergency landing in UP’s Ayodhya airport following bomb threat”, airport director Vinod Kumar told news agency PTI.
The Boeing 737 Max8 aircraft with call sign AXB765 landed at Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya airport by 1.59 pm.
The aircraft is currently parked in an isolated bay area of Ayodhya airport, while passengers have been alighted from the aircraft.
The combing operation is under way by the bomb disposal squad (BDS) and dog squad.
This comes a day after an Air India flight from Mumbai to New York was redirected to Delhi due to a bomb threat. Mumbai airport received a message on X (formerly Twitter) about the threat.
This prompted the flight to be diverted to Delhi after informing security agencies. Delhi Police confirmed that the aircraft is now at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.
A senior police officer at Delhi airport said, “We request your cooperation and refrain from spreading unverified information. Further updates will be shared in due course.”
There have been multiple recent bomb threats targeting airports, many of which were false. On October 5, Indore’s Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar International Airport received a bomb threat email, leading to an FIR.
Similarly, Vadodara Airport received a bomb threat email on the same day, resulting in a thorough search. Authorities are investigating the matter and security has been increased following the threat.