Over 45 aircraft received bomb threats today, pushing the total number of such incidents to more than 70 in the past six days. All threats were communicated via social media, either through direct messages sent to airlines or by tagging them in posts, creating a wave of anxiety across the aviation sector. While it was solely Indian airlines that were targeted in the past five days, on Saturday, Delta Airlines became the first foreign airline to receive such threats. The airlines targeted yesterday were Indigo, Air India, Spicejet, Akasa Air, Alliance Air, Vistara and Delta. 

Highly placed sources in the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) told mid-day, “Today [Saturday], 35 threats were received via the same social media handle, all within a span of 30 minutes.” Sources said this does not seem to be a case of someone trying to play a prank. “Though we can only confirm this once the culprits are caught, this looks like an attempt to overwhelm and wear out security agencies,” they added.