New Delhi:
Three private airlines have lost six landing slots at the Delhi airport for not using specially-trained pilots and planes with special equipment to navigate the thick winter fog.
This means the affected airlines will have to cancel six flights between them.
The penalized carriers are IndiGo, GoAir and Jet Airways. Last night and this morning, they diverted six flights from Delhi to Jaipur on account of fog, prompting punitive action.
On January 7, two days after 50 flights were diverted from Delhi because of fog, the civil aviation regulator DGCA met with private airlines and warned them to comply with its requirements.
But this is the first time the regulator has come down heavily on erring airlines. And the timing almost seems suspect. The penal action against private carriers comes just a day after the news leaked out that the DGCA had asked carriers to bestow special favours like priority check-in and free airport lounge refreshments to parliamentarians. That proposal was shot down amid public outrage by Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh but the news had embarrassed the government. (
Read)
The DGCA has created this email ID 'sugam@dgca.nic.in' for passengers to report complaints or problems caused by delays.