New Delhi, January 15: A day after several flights were delayed for hours due to traffic congestion at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on Sunday, January 15, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia announced steps to deal with such situation in future. On X (formerly Twitter), Jyotiraditya Scindia announced the Delhi airport has been asked to expedite process to get fourth runway operational.
"Delhi airport has been asked to immediately expedite the operationalization of the CAT III-enabled 4th runway (in addition to the existing CAT III-enabled runway) to the satisfaction of the DGCA, in order to get approvals," Scindia said on Monday, January 15. Another step, he said, is that the DGCA will issue guidelines for airlines to minimise inconvenience to the passengers.
"The DGCA will issue an SOP for airlines on better communication and facilitation of passengers to minimise discomfort in view of flight cancellations and delays due to adverse weather," the minister announced. Around 150 flights were delayed on January 14.
Jyotiraditya Scindia's Announcements To Deal With Aur Traffic Congestion At Delhi Airport:
What Caused The Delay? Here's What Minister Said
According to Scindia, there was an "unprecedented fog" in Delhi on January 14 and the visibility dropped to zero between 5 am to 9 am. "The authorities, therefore, were compelled to enforce a shut-down of operations for some time even on CAT III runways (CAT III runways cannot handle Zero-Visibility operations). The decision was taken keeping passenger safety in mind, which remains the foremost priority for all in the aviation ecosystem," he said.
Only One Runway Was Operation At Delhi Airport?
There was a buzz on X that only one runway was operation at the IGI airport on January 14. However, the Ministry of Civil Aviation dismissed this claim, saying: "All three Operational Runways at Delhi Airport including a CAT III runway were handling flight operations as per their capabilities yesterday, however, with reduced capacity due to intense fog."
