New Delhi: Delhi airport confronted extreme disruption of flight operations on Monday resulting from dense fog that lowered visibility to zero for a number of hours. Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia stated that the authorities needed to shut down operations briefly on CAT III runways, that are designed to deal with low-visibility situations, as a security measure. He additionally shared the steps being taken to mitigate the scenario within the close to future.
Scindia takes to X to tell passengers
Scindia took to X (previously Twitter) to tell the passengers concerning the fog scenario and the steps being taken by the aviation ministry and different stakeholders. He stated, “Yesterday, Delhi witnessed unprecedented fog whereby visibility fluctuated for a number of hours, and at instances, dropped to zero between 5 AM to 9 AM.”
Yesterday, Delhi witnessed unprecedented fog whereby visibility fluctuated for a number of hours, and at instances, dropped to zero between 5 AM to 9 AM.
The authorities, due to this fact, have been compelled to implement a shut-down of operations for a while even on CAT III runways (CAT III…
— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) January 15, 2024
“The authorities, due to this fact, have been compelled to implement a shut-down of operations for a while even on CAT III runways (CAT III runways can’t deal with Zero-Visibility operations). The choice was taken holding passenger security in thoughts, which stays the foremost precedence for all within the aviation ecosystem. “
Steps to enhance operations
Scindia additionally introduced the next steps to enhance the operations at Delhi airport in case of fog. He stated “Delhi Airport has been requested to right away expedite the operationalization of the CAT III-enabled 4th runway (along with the prevailing CAT III-enabled runway) to the satisfaction of the DGCA India, so as to get approvals.”
The DGCA will concern an SOP for airways on higher communication and facilitation of passengers to minimise discomfort in view of flight cancellations & delays resulting from antagonistic climate.
Scindia urges calm, warns in opposition to unruly behaviour
Scindia additionally appealed to the travellers to bear with the scenario and guaranteed them that every one stakeholders are working around the clock to minimise the fog-related affect. He stated, “It’s my earnest request to all travellers to bear with us throughout this troublesome interval. All stakeholders are attempting their finest to reduce passenger inconvenience.”
He additionally warned in opposition to any incidences of unruly behaviour by the passengers and stated that they are going to be handled strongly in step with the prevailing authorized provisions. He stated, “Incidences of unruly behaviour amidst this are unacceptable, and shall be handled strongly in step with the prevailing authorized provisions.”
MOA refutes declare of just one operational runway
In the meantime, the Ministry Of Aviation (MOA) refuted the declare made by an X person who stated that solely one of many 4 runways at Delhi airport was operational and that it didn’t have CAT III facility. The person, Kapil Chopra, had tweeted, “Delhi airport has four runways, guess what number of are operational ? One. Sure. And guess what, the operational runway doesn’t have CAT 3, so can’t function in fog. No flights took off for five hours. Why?”
This isn’t right. All three Operational Runways at Delhi Airport together with a CAT III runway have been dealing with flight operations as per their capabilities yesterday, nonetheless, with lowered capability resulting from intense fog. https://t.co/5h5vRVVFHV
— MoCA_GoI (@MoCA_GoI) January 15, 2024
The MOA responded by saying, “This isn’t right. All three Operational Runways at Delhi Airport together with a CAT III runway have been dealing with flight operations as per their capabilities yesterday, nonetheless, with lowered capability resulting from intense fog.”
The MOA additionally shared the info of the flight actions on the three runways from 5 AM to 9 AM. It stated, “Knowledge from 5 AM to 9 AM exhibits that the CAT III Runway RWY 11R/29L dealt with 30 landings and 1 take off in the course of the four hour interval whereas the non- CAT III Runway RWY 9/27 couldn’t deal with any flight motion and RWY 11L/29R dealt with 2 Take-offs in the course of the interval.”
