Rs 1.20 Crore On IndiGo, Rs 90 lakh On Mumbai Airport: Heavy Penalty Over Passengers Eating On Tarmac

In one of its biggest penalties, the Civil Aviation Ministry today imposed hefty fines on the IndiGo and Mumbai airport operator MIAL in connection with a viral video that showed passengers sitting on the runway and eating food.

In its stringent measure, the ministry imposed Rs 90 lakh fine on the Mumbai airport, while imposing IndiGo a fine of Rs 1.20 crore. In addition, Air India and SpiceJet were also penalised for violations. IndiGo has been penalised by regulator Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS); the penalty on Mumbai Airport was imposed by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and BCAS, Rs 30 lakh and Rs 60 lakh, respectively, the Hindustan Times reported.

DGCA, which imposed the fine said that the reply to the show cause notice was received on 17.01.2024 and was not found satisfactory as the response submitted by MIAL shows that they have failed to adhere to the safety requirements as laid down in the Air Safety Circular 04 of 2007.

After the video of the passengers eating food on the tarmac went viral on social media, the aviation ministry asked both the involved parties to provide explanation.

The showcase notice to IndiGo said: “Indigo allowed disembarkation of passengers from flight 6E 2195 on to the apron and then boarded them on to flight 6E 2091 on 15.01.2024 at Mumbai airport, without following the procedure of security screening, which is in violation of the above-mentioned orders. Further, the incident was not reported to BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security) by the aircraft operator, which is attributed to a violation of Rule 51 of the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023.”

With the flight delayed, the IndiGo passengers were seen going out at the Mumbai airport and eating food on the tarmac. The ministry imposed heavy penalties for failing to anticipate the situation, leading to a grave security threat.