New Delhi, November 20, 2024: Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Wednesday conducted a high-level meeting to assess the preparedness of airlines, Delhi airport and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), considering the premature arrival of fog and smog in the National Capital Region. The meeting, officials said, was aimed at ensuring uninterrupted flight operations and better passenger comfort.
The meeting was attended by Vumlunmang Vualnam, civil aviation secretary and other senior officials from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi operator and airline officials.
“The preparations for managing visibility-related challenges this winter are moving in the right direction with good progress made in resolving the bottlenecks. The Ministry is committed for comfortable air travel with minimized disruptions,” a statement issued by the civil aviation ministry read.
The minister underlined the importance of a passenger-centric approach, in line with his vision of ‘Ease of Flying’ and emphasised the need to prioritize passenger convenience and safety, it added.
Officials said that while reviewing the preparedness of the Airport Operation Control (AOC) room, the minister emphasised the critical need for real-time coordination among air traffic controllers (ATC), airlines, ground handlers, and airport operators to ensure smooth operations according to the reports published in hindustantimes.com.
“All the airlines have confirmed adherence with DGCA guidelines to deploy CAT II/III (instrument landing system that helps flights to land in poor visibility) compliant aircraft and pilots in Delhi and other fog affected airports,” the government said. This comes after Delhi airport, last year faced major flight delays due to airlines not deploying pilots essential to land in fog situations. Moreover, only one runway in Delhi was equipped with CAT III.
However, this year, three out of four runways at the Delhi airport have activated CAT III ILS systems.
It has been advised to install LED screens at prominent locations to provide real-time updates on visibility conditions and to increase the availability of “Follow Me’ vehicles to guide aircraft (to the parking bays) during low visibility situations.
The airlines have been instructed to proactively communicate potential delays or cancellations to passengers due to visibility issues and to ensure that correct passenger contact information is recorded during ticket booking.
“The flight has to be cancelled if the delay exceeds three hours..the minister has emphasized the importance of adhering to DGCA guidelines during delays/cancellations and at the same time ensuring passengers are timely informed,” the statement said.
Acknowledging the need for operational efficiency during peak hours, Naidu also asked the airlines to have adequate numbers of staff at all check-in counters to ensure passenger convenience.
