“War rooms will be set up at airports..”: Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on flight delays

New Delhi: Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday announced a six-point action plan to deal with problems arising due to fog in domestic and international commercial flight operations. Hundreds of flights have been delayed or cancelled due to fog these days.

In a post on X, Scindia said, “Yesterday, Delhi witnessed unprecedented fog wherein visibility fluctuated for several hours, and at times, 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.

However, to mitigate the situation in the near future, following steps have been taken:

@DelhiAirport 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 @DGCAIndia , in order to get approvals.

The DGCA will issue an SOP for airlines on better communication and facilitation of passengers to minimise discomfort in view of flight cancellations & delays due to adverse weather.

It is my earnest request to all travellers to bear with us during this difficult period. All stakeholders are trying their best to minimize passenger inconvenience. Incidences of unruly behaviour amidst this are unacceptable, and will be dealt with strongly in line with the existing legal provisions.

I would like to assure everyone that all stakeholders are working round the clock to minimise the fog-related impact.”