India reviews fog preparedness
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The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has asked the concerned authorities to take all necessary steps in advance to meet eventualities arising out of fog during the winter season particularly at the airports in North India.
Civil Aviation Minister, Ajit Singh has instructed that the passengers should not be put to unnecessary inconvenience and flight cancellations should be minimized without compromising safety. “The passengers should be provided timely information, food and beverages in case of flight delays,” Singh said. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) and other concerned authorities have also been advised to make use of the best available technology for smooth navigation and landing of aircraft during fog.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) took a meeting with all stakeholders to review the fog preparedness at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi and other north Indian airports. The meeting was attended by representatives of Airport Authorities of India (AAI), scheduled domestic airlines, foreign carriers, DIAL, Indian Meteorological Department and CISF.
All the stakeholders have been advised on the following issues:
• Airlines should ensure that adequate number of CAT III trained pilots are available to operate flights to/from Delhi during fog. They should reschedule the flights of non-CAT-III compliant aircraft (ATRs, Q400, CRJs) during the fog period.
• Meteorological information for passengers should be displayed and updated every 15 minutes. Weather information on IGI Airport should also be displayed on prominent news channels.
• Airlines should provide information to passengers about delays/rescheduling/ cancellation of flights in advance through SMS/email/phone, etc. Airlines should also provide information to DIAL on flight status for updating the same on FIDs.
• All construction work should be stopped near the operational area at IGI Airport. AAI should not undertake any construction work on the alternate airports at Jaipur, Lucknow, Amritsar, Ahemadabad, Varanasi etc. during the fog period that may affect aircraft operations.
• After the fog situation improves, priority should be given to diverted flights. ATC should sequence the aircraft and give clearance for take-off based on the start-up request to avoid congestion.
• Ground infrastructure would be augmented at alternate airports during fog.
• Airlines should position a senior level officer at IGI Airport during the fog period for passenger facilitation.
• Contingency plan should be drawn regarding continuous serviceability of Met equipment during fog.
• To avoid any misconduct/violence on the part of passengers, CISF should provide necessary help to the airlines.