A Vistara passenger aircraft.
Credit: Reuters File Photo
New Delhi: Afghanistan authorities on Sunday did not permit a Frankfurt-bound Vistara plane to use its airspace as there was a bomb threat, forcing the aircraft to return to Delhi, according to sources.
The flight UK25 from the national capital to Frankfurt in Germany was operated with a Boeing 787 aircraft and had more than 240 people onboard, they said.
The sources in the know told PTI that the bomb threat was classified as "non-specific" and it was decided that the flight will continue its journey to Frankfurt.
However, the Afghanistan authorities did not give permission to overfly its airspace since there was a bomb threat, the sources added.
There was no immediate comment from the airline on the matter.
Nearly 100 flights have received bomb threats this week but they turned out to be hoaxes.
Earlier in the day, Vistara said it received security threats for six flights, including UK25.
The sources said that after Afghanistan authorities denied permission to overfly its airspace, the aircraft returned and landed safely at the Delhi airport at around 1620 hours.
It had taken off from the airport at around 1310 hours.
"Flight UK25 from Delhi to Frankfurt (DEL-FRA) is returning back to Delhi (DEL) and is expected to arrive in Delhi (DEL) at 1620 hours," the airline had said in a post on X at 1619 hours.
As per information available on Flightradar24.com, the plane circled in the Pakistan airspace and also entered the Afghanistan airspace briefly before turning back.
Generally, the flight takes the route through airspace of Pakistan, Afghanistan and a few other countries while flying to Frankfurt.