Jyotiraditya Scindia Questioned For The "Mess" At Delhi Airport
The unprecedented fog situation in Delhi has caused mayhem in the national capital, including zero visibility at the airport. In the wake of the situation, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Civil Aviation Minster, assured that measures are being taken to attenuate the impact of the weather condition on air travel. Taking to social media, Scindia said decision to shut down operations of runways for some time due to ensure safety of the passengers, which “remains the foremost priority for all in the aviation ecosystem”. On Sunday, visibility fluctuated severely and dropped to zero between 5:00 am to 9:00 am, due to the fog.
He said the Delhi airport has been directed to accelerate the operation of the CAT III – enabled 4th runway, apart from the existing CAT III enabled runways. The move is aimed at enhancing the capacity to handle adverse conditions, which are subject to approval from the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA). CAT II is a precise way of landing planes even in poor visibility, allowing them to land just 100 feet above the runway with clear guidance, and the runway need to be visible within 200 metres.
The aviation minister said stakeholders are trying their best to minimize the inconvenience caused to the passengers. And added that incidences of unruly behaviour amidst the situation are unacceptable, and will be dealt strongly with the existing legal provisions.
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…
— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) January 15, 2024
DGCA and Scindia was accused of the “mess” at Delhi airport by an X user. It said that only one of the four runways in Delhi are operational and it does not have “CAT 3 so cannot operate in fog”, which caused the delay in flights.
Headline : The mess at Delhi airport with a sleeping @DGCAIndia and @JM_Scindia
Delhi airport has 4 runways, guess how many are operational ? One. Yes. And guess what, the operational runway does not have CAT 3, so cannot operate in fog. No flights took off for 5 hours. Why?1/4 pic.twitter.com/XEUs1uaRUB
— Kapil Chopra (@KapilChopra72) January 14, 2024
The Ministry of Civil Aviation issued a statement denying the claim that only one runway is operational. The statement said, “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”.
This is not correct. 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. https://t.co/5h5vRVVFHV
— MoCA_GoI (@MoCA_GoI) January 15, 2024
