No-Fly Lists, SUSCA Act Amendment: Civil Aviation Minister Naidu On Govt Plans To Tackle Hoax Flight Threats

Civil Aviation Minister addressed recent hoax bomb threats on flights, revealing planned legislative changes and international cooperation efforts as over 275 flights have received threats in the past 12 days.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu addressed the recent surge in hoax bomb threats directed at flights during the ABP Southern Rising Summit 2024. Over the past weeks, the aviation sector has been plagued by these incidents, prompting a coordinated response from various ministries.

"The hoax calls have been happening for the past 8-9 days and quite frequently. Right from the first day the hoax calls started, our civil aviation ministry, in concurrence with the home affairs ministry and IT ministry, who are the nodal ministries handling this issue, has been actively engaged. We have been trying to assess what exactly is happening," Kinjarapu stated.

To combat this issue, the minister highlighted potential legislative changes to enhance aircraft security measures. "We have dug deeper into the legislation we already have to understand what can be done to make these events stop. If we catch hold of the person behind these acts, we can put them on the no-fly list. Secondly, we have the SUSCA Act on unlawful activities regarding civil aviation. We want to extend it to cover offences on the ground, including at airports, which is another legislation we are proposing," he explained. 

Kinjarapu assured that all relevant law enforcement agencies, including local police, home affairs, and intelligence, are taking the matter seriously. "We are keeping this situation very dynamic and thoroughly following up on day-to-day activities. We are trying to improvise our response system and learning along the way," he added. 

When asked about potential suspects behind these hoax calls, he said, "There are talks of conspiracy, but as a minister, I would not comment on it unless the investigation is thorough and law enforcement agencies confirm what has actually happened. Until we have completed the investigation or caught a person or organisation behind this, I don’t want to comment."

The minister also noted that international cooperation is crucial in addressing these threats. "Yes, absolutely. That is why I said the Ministry of External Affairs is also involved because international airlines are facing these kinds of threats. We always keep the safety and security of passengers as our topmost priority," he said, acknowledging that many threats have originated from IP addresses in other countries, often masked by VPNs.

Meanwhile, he also addressed a spike in airfare during times of calamity and festive season. Naidu said, "We have tried to sensitise the airlines. We issue a circular whenever there is a calamity asking airlines to not increase the prices and to be sensitive to the issue. When it comes to the festive season, it is more a demand-driven market, especially the airfares industry. We are trying to speak to the industry in a positive and proactive manner... The law does not permit us to put a cap on the airfare, we are trying to utilise our relations with airfare."

"We ensure that prices do not increase during times of natural calamity," he emphasised.

Naidu stated that he is of the opinion that the Modi government's UDAN scheme, launched in 2017, needs to be extended for 10 more years to facilitate access to air travel for the common public. "We have successfully completed eight years of UDAAN scheme 'Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik'...It was PM Modi's brainchild...We have connected the unserved and underserved airports in the country, 74 airports in 2014 have been increased to 157...no country has achieved this...we have taken the airport infrastructure to the remotest part of the country. We were faced with the challenge of how to connect them to airlines and UDAAN helped us achieve this. The scheme helped increase flights at the Darbangha airport from two to 70 per week in four years," he remarked.

Over 25 Flights Receive Bomb Threats On Friday

On Friday alone, more than 25 domestic and international flights operated by Indian carriers received bomb threats, news agency PTI reported citing sources. An IndiGo spokesperson confirmed that seven of its flights, including flight 6E 87 from Kozhikode to Dammam, received security-related alerts. In total, around seven flights each of IndiGo, Vistara, and SpiceJet, as well as six flights of Air India, were affected. 

The spokesperson added that for flight 6E 2099 from Udaipur to Delhi, which received a bomb threat, the aircraft was redirected to an isolation bay before take-off, and all passengers were safely disembarked following standard operating procedures.

In the last 12 days, over 275 flights operated by Indian carriers have received bomb threats, with many issued through social media. In response, the government has urged social media platforms Meta and X to share data about these hoax bomb threat messages and has begun identifying those behind such activities, according to sources from PTI.