Air India has announced that the passengers of flight Al127, which was diverted to Canada's Iqaluit on Tuesday following a bomb threat, are on their way to the destination Chicago.
The statement from the airline said the passengers were being ferried on a Canadian Air Force aircraft which took off at 03:54 hrs UTC (IST 9:30 am). It will land in Chicago around 07:48 hrs UTC.
Earlier, Canada's emergency preparedness minister had said that he received a request seeking military help to transport the passengers of the flight.
Harjit Sajjan posted on X late Tuesday that the 211 passengers on board were stranded as the airline hadn’t found a solution to transport them. Iqaluit, a remote Canadian town, is not equipped to house the passengers, following which Canada's Forces gave the nod for the airlift. The move was also to ease the pressure on Iqaluit.
Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair too said he approved a request for an airlift.
Over the last two days, multiple Indian airlines received over 10 bomb threats, forcing diversions and emergency landing.
The diversion of the Chicago-bound flight also evoked a response from the US, which said "threats against Air India flights are extremely serious."
US Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller addressed the issue during his press meeting on Tuesday. "So obviously, any kinds of threats against commercial aviation are inappropriate and matters that are dealt with extremely seriously by our own law enforcement agencies, and I would refer those law enforcement agencies," Miller said.
According to CISF, over 10 bomb scares were reported on Monday and Tuesday, prompting Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu to call an emergency meeting on Tuesday. The officials from the Bureau of Civil Aviation, CISF and other airport security officials attended the meeting.
