New Delhi, November 21 (IANS). The Civil Aviation Ministry has directed airlines to immediately inform passengers of any delay and cancel flights delayed by more than three hours, so that passengers are not inconvenienced. The ministry says that as winter progresses, there is a possibility of flight disruption due to dense fog.
Civil Aviation Minister K. The guidelines were issued after a review meeting on fog preparedness chaired by Rammohan Naidu.
The Union Minister stressed on the passenger-first approach with a vision of ‘ease of flying’ giving priority to convenience and safety.
Airlines have also been asked to use CAT II/III compliant aircraft and trained pilots for operations at airports like Delhi, where visibility is likely to be low during winter, especially in December.
Airlines have also been directed to maintain fully staffed check-in counters to minimize inconvenience and to capture contact details of passengers while booking tickets to facilitate communication.
Delhi airport operator DIAL has been directed to install LED screens for real-time updates on visibility conditions and increase the number of ‘Follow Me’ vehicles to guide aircraft in low-visibility conditions.
The smog has already affected flight schedules this week as over 100 flights were delayed and 15 diverted due to low visibility in the national capital.
The Civil Aviation Ministry called for increased real-time coordination between airlines, air traffic controllers and ground handlers to minimize disruptions.
The high-level meeting chaired by the Civil Aviation Minister was attended by representatives of the Ministry, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, Indian Meteorological Department, Delhi airport operator and commercial airlines like IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet and Akasa. Senior officials were involved.
Delhi airport officials said that several measures are being implemented to effectively deal with the challenges of low visibility.
Three of the four runways at Delhi Airport are equipped with CAT III Instrument Landing System (ILS), which enables operations even in dense fog with low visibility.
–IANS
SKT/ABM
