New Delhi: In a concerning incident, Afghanistan authorities denied permission to a Vistara flight heading to Frankfurt, Germany, to use its airspace after receiving a bomb threat. The flight, UK25, which had over 240 passengers on board, was forced to return to Delhi, where it landed safely, reports the Economic Times.
The Boeing 787 aircraft, which took off from Delhi at 1:10 PM, was on its scheduled route when Afghanistan’s authorities, alerted by the bomb threat, refused the plane entry into their airspace. The sources mentioned that the bomb threat was classified as “non-specific,” and the decision was initially made to continue the flight to Frankfurt. However, Afghanistan’s refusal led to the aircraft turning back after briefly entering its airspace. The plane safely touched down at Delhi airport at 4:20 PM.
Vistara had earlier reported receiving security threats for six of its flights, including the Frankfurt-bound UK25. Nearly 100 flights worldwide have faced similar bomb threats this week, all of which have been identified as hoaxes.
While the airline has not yet made an official statement, data from Flightradar24.com indicated that the aircraft circled in Pakistan’s airspace before its attempt to cross into Afghanistan. Typically, flights from India to Frankfurt pass through the airspace of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries.
This marks another in a series of bomb threats affecting global aviation, with heightened security protocols being enacted across airports and airlines.
