Moscow-Goa Azur Air flight diverted after bomb threat; 2nd incident in a month

New Delhi, Jan 21: A Goa-bound chartered flight from Russian capital Moscow with 240 passengers on board was diverted to Uzbekistan in the wee hours of Saturday following a bomb threat, news agency PTI has reported quoting a police official.

This is the second such incident on the Moscow-Goa route involving the same airline in less than two weeks. The flight, operated by Russian airline Azur Air, was scheduled to land at the Dabolim airport in South Goa at 4.15 am, a senior police official said.

The flight (AZV2463) operated by Azur Air was diverted before it entered the Indian air space, he said.

"''The flight (AZV2463) was diverted to Uzbekistan after an email was received at 12.30 am by the office of the Dabolim airport director, which said that a bomb was planted on the plane. The flight was diverted before it entered the Indian airspace. It landed at an airport in Uzbekistan around 4.30 am," an official told PTI.

Apart from passengers, there were seven crew members on board, he said.

The incident occurred nearly two weeks after Moscow-Goa flight made an emergency landing at Gujarat's Jamnagar airport following a bomb threat. Azur Air international flight was diverted to the Jamnagar airport following a bomb threat and made a safe emergency landing there at 9.49 pm on Monday, officials had said.

After evacuating all 236 passengers and eight crew members, the plane as well as the luggage was thoroughly checked but nothing suspicious was found. The crew and passengers spent the night at the Jamnagar airport lounge.