India’s airlines received 999 hoax bomb threats this year, straining carriers financially

India’s airlines have already received 999 hoax bomb threats this year, Murlidhar Mohol, India’s deputy civil aviation minister, said on Thursday.

In written answers to India’s upper house, he said the number was almost 10 times more than in the whole of 2023, according to Reuters.

Reuters reported that the false claims were mostly made via social media.

Mohol said that 12 people had been arrested in connection with 256 police complaints filed over hoax bomb threats up until November 14, and that more than 500 threats had been made in the final two weeks of October, more than in the rest of the year combined.

“The recent threats were hoaxes, and no actual threat was detected at any of the airports/aircraft in India,” he said.

The spike in incidents has forced planes to be diverted, and has led to rising costs for airlines.