NEW DELHI: With flights facing long delays amid adverse weather conditions in Delhi, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday issued guidelines, asking the airlines to publish accurate real-time information on their flights and inform passengers through SMS/WhatsApp and email.
The DGCA guidelines came hours after Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia stepped in to ease the situation. He also requested the passengers to be patient during adverse weather conditions. Scindia asked the Delhi Airport to expedite the operationalization of the CAT III-enabled 4th runway.
Meanwhile, Delhi International Airport (DIAL) CEO Videh Jaipuriar said the visibility was reduced to such an extent that the CAT-IIIB norms turned ineffective on Sunday, resulting in delays.
“For four hours on Sunday morning we had zero visibility. So, whatever facility you have, in this kind of natural phenomenon, you cannot handle flight movement because nobody would take chances on safety,” Jaipuriar told this newspaper. He also attributed the delays to a shortage of CAT-IIIB-compliant pilots who are trained to fly in low visibility.
This statement by the head of the country’s busiest airport comes as passengers are facing severe delays, which in a few cases are going up to more than 10 hours. Being one of the most connected airports in the country, the disruption at Delhi Airport is having a cascading effect, shaking up flight movements across the country.
On Sunday, over 500 outbound flights from the Delhi Airport were delayed while 87 were cancelled, according to data from flight tracking service Flightradar24. As for inbound flights, 414 were delayed while 42 were cancelled. As of 9 pm on Monday, the number of delays for departure flights stood at 458 while 87 flights were again cancelled. A total of 306 arrival flights were delayed and 71 were cancelled.
Fog situation worst in 5 years: DIAL CEO
The ongoing fog situation in Delhi is the worst in five years, and for four hours on Sunday the visibility was reduced to such an extent that the CAT-IIIB norms turned ineffective, Videh Jaipuriar, CEO of Delhi International Airport, told this newspaper. He also attributed the delays to a shortage of CAT-IIIB-compliant pilots who are trained to fly in low visibility.