Bomb threat received by Alliance Air Kochi-Bengaluru flight

Kochi: An Alliance Air Kochi-Bengaluru flight was among the over 30 flights that received bomb threats on Saturday, according to the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL).

The CIAL said that a "bomb threat was received by the X handle of Alliance Air (along with multiple airports and airlines)".

Since the threat was specific to Kochi, a bomb threat assessment committee (BTAC) was convened here along with other airports at 2.30 PM, CIAL said in a statement.

After evaluating the message threatening Alliance flight 9I506, the committee decided that the threat was non-specific and recommended enhancing security arrangements of passengers and baggage by increasing the percentage of physical check, it said .

It also recommended carrying out explosive trace detection (ETD) checks, Secondary Ladder Point Security (SLPC) and a thorough aircraft search, the statement said.

The threat message was received at the Station Operations Control Center (SOCC) of the Aviation Security Group (ASG) headquarters at 2 PM, it added.

Flights of Air India, IndiGo, Akasa Air, Vistara, SpiceJet, Star Air and Alliance Air across the country have received bomb threats during the day, according to sources.

So far this week, at least 70 flights of Indian carriers have received bomb threats and most of them turned out to be hoaxes.