Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu on Monday said that those caught for making hoax bomb calls to airlines will be put on a no-fly list. Naidu said that the Centre is also trying to make amendments to the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Safety of Civil Aviation (SUASCA) Act, 1982.
Over the past week, several Indian and international airlines received a flurry of bomb threats. All of them turned out to be hoaxes. The bomb threats hindered airline operations, causing distress among passengers and pressuring the already hard-pressed aviation security infrastructure.
"We want to make it a cognisable offence," Naidu said at a press conference. The Union Minister said that the aviation ministry is in consultation with another ministries such as Home Ministry. He added that the NDA government at the Centre would not compromise the safety and security of passengers.
"Even through these are hoax threats we cannot take it lightly.. we have a set protocol," he said. The minister added that around 10 per cent security has been enhanced at airports across the country in the wake of bomb threats.
He also mentioned that the Centre and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) are talking to airlines. The BCAS has already sought suggestions from the airlines, Naidu added.
On Sunday, Naidu said that the Centre is attempting to use intelligence and other important people from the Home Ministry to avoid such instances in the future.
"We are trying to use intelligence, IB and all the other important people who are there in this, especially home affairs and all, everyone is cooperating together. We are taking it very seriously and we want to ensure that these kinds of incidents do not happen."
Flights that were affected due to the bomb threat were 12 Akasa Air flights and 2 Vistara flights.
The affected Vistara flights include Flight UK25 (Delhi to Frankfurt), Flight UK106 (Singapore to Mumbai), Flight UK146 (Bali to Delhi), Flight UK116 (Singapore to Delhi), Flight UK110 (Singapore to Pune), and Flight UK107 (Mumbai to Singapore).
SpiceJet and Air Asia also received five bomb threats each.
Spice Jet flights that received hoax bomb threats were SG 55, SG 116, SG 211, SG 476, SG 2939. Air Asia flights that were hindered due to bomb threats include 9I 506, 9I 528, 9I 822, 9I 661, 9I 804.