If
your flight gets delayed due to fog then expect to be informed in advance by
the airline concerned because on Wednesday the Director General of Civil
Aviation (DGCA) instructed all the airlines flying out of Delhi to inform
passengers about delays/rescheduling/cancellation of flights in advance through
SMS, e-mail or phone from December 10 to February 10, the anticipated season of
fog in the Capital.
The DGCA also asked the airlines to ensure that passengers are
provided basic amenities along with provision of food at alternative airports
in case flights get diverted. Besides, they have also been directed to depute a
senior officer at Indira Gandhi International Airport during the fog period for
passenger facilitation.
These decisions were taken during a meeting to review fog
preparedness at the Indira Gandhi International Airport and other North Indian
airports.
To avoid inconvenience to passengers, the DGCA asked for better
coordination among all the stakeholders like the Airports Authority of India
(AAI), scheduled domestic airlines, foreign airlines, Delhi International
Airport Limited (DIAL), Indian Meteorological Department and the Central
Industrial Security Force (CISF).
As per the new instructions, the airports and the airlines will
have to ensure that the meteorological information for passengers should be
displayed on the Flight Information Display System which should also be updated
every 15 minutes. Weather information on IGI Airport should also be displayed
on prominent news channels.
DIAL has been instructed to hold daily evening meetings of all
stakeholders during the fog period to review the situation during the day and
plan for the next day’s operations.
The DGCA has also said that after the fog situation improves,
priority should be given to diverted flights. Air Traffic Control (ATC) should
sequence the aircraft and give clearance for take-off based on the start-up
request to avoid congestion.
Airlines will have to ensure that an adequate number of CAT
III-trained pilots certified to fly during low visibility are available to
operate flights to/from Delhi during fog.
In order to ensure smooth traffic at the IGI airport the DGCA
has instructed that all construction work should be stopped near the
operational area of the airport. Besides it has also advised the AAI not to
start any construction work that might affect aircraft operations on the
alternate airports at Jaipur, Lucknow, Amritsar, Ahmadabad and Varanasi during
the fog period.
Authorities have also been told to draw the contingency plan
regarding continuous serviceability of meteorological equipment during fog.
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