New Delhi: The Directorate General of of Civil Aviation on Thursday sought a report from SpiceJet on an incident at Delhi airport this week where passengers of a Bengaluru-bound flight had to wait for a long time at the aerobridge.
A passenger had taken to social media and narrated their experience and also shared a vido about having to wait for a long time at the aerobridge on Tuesday. It happened with passengers of SpiceJet flight SG 8133 from Delhi-Bengaluru.
The airlines, a day after the incident, said that the flight was delayed due to weather disruption which led to incoming crew extending their duty time limit.
A senior DCGA official was quoted by PTI saying that the regulator is looking into the incident and that they have sought a report from the airline.
Airline's statement on the incident
In its statement on Wednesday, SpiceJet said that the flight was delayed on account of weather disruption in the network and the aircraft's previous rotation.
"As a result of this, the incoming crew was not legal to operate the subsequent flight to Bengaluru and crew was arranged from another incoming flight which was legal as per duty-time limitation," it had said.
According to the statement, as passengers had completed the security check they were requested to wait at the aerobridge.
"Water was served to passengers who were on the lower floor near the aircraft door and aerobridge passage. The video was shot outside of the boarding gate that had limited access. All passengers on the said flight were provided service recovery vouchers," it added.
Further, the airline said that on an average, the turnaround time for a Boeing aircraft is 40-45 minutes at Delhi airport and for this particular flight, it was around 20 minutes more than the average turnaround time.
Air India, Go First receive notices as well
The DCGA has recently issued show cause notices to Air India and Go First. Air India was served notice for incidents of passenger misbehaviour onboard two international flights. While Go First was served show cause notice after 55 passengers were to board a Delhi flight but were left behind at Bengaluru airport.
