Aviation incidents and new hub-and-spoke services in India

Several aviation incidents and infrastructure developments occurred in India. An Air India Express flight from Dammam to Delhi was diverted to Ahmedabad after a crew member discovered a tissue paper in the lavatory with the word ‘BOMB’ written on it. All 32 passengers and eight crew members were safely evacuated and frisked; security sweeps found no explosives, leading authorities to treat the note as a suspected hoax.

Separately, an IndiGo flight (6E 2102) traveling from Goa to Delhi made an emergency return to Manohar International Airport after reporting a technical issue involving an engine. All 229 passengers on board landed safely without injury.

In terms of infrastructure, the Ministry of Civil Aviation launched international hub-and-spoke flight operations at Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. This makes Ahmedabad the third Indian airport, following Varanasi and Amritsar, to join the framework. The system allows passengers to complete immigration and customs at the spoke airport for seamless transfers to international destinations via Delhi.