Taking Note Of Fog-Induced Flight Delays, Civil Aviation Minister Scindia Forms War Rooms At Six Metro Airports

Taking note of flight delays due to fog, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya announced the formation of 'War Rooms' at the six metro airports on Tuesday (16 January).

These war rooms will be set up by airports and airline operators to address any issues with regard to passenger inconvenience with immediacy. This comes a day after Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were issued to all the airlines.

Keeping the focus on the six metro airports, Scindia said that the ministry has sought incidence reporting thrice daily for these airports. Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai are considered to be metro airports.

Scindia promised to ensure the availability of sufficient CISF manpower round-the-clock. The implementation of DGCA directives and SOPs will also be monitored.

He said that runway 29L at Delhi Airport has been made CAT III operational today and operationalisation of runway 10/28 as CAT III will be undertaken after re-carpeting.

CAT III is a category of navigation system that allows for landings with a minimum visibility of 50 metres, hence, is useful for times when the visibility is very low due to fog.

Delhi witnessed a zero visibility fog yesterday morning which compelled a shut-down of operations for some time at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Earlier today, Scindia held a meeting with all ministry officials after which Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) issued show cause notices to Indigo and Mumbai Airport over passengers eating on the tarmac at Mumbai Airport.