‘War rooms’ at airports to ease hassles of flyers

As chaotic scenes at airports due to long flight delays due to dense fog, and untold miseries to passengers continue, the Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said ‘war rooms’ will be set up by airports and airline operators at the six metro airports to address any issues with regard to passenger inconvenience with immediacy. This is in addition to the standard operating procedures to deal with the fog-induced flight disruptions. The Civil Aviation Ministry has also sought incidence reporting — thrice daily — from all the six metro airports.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for mitigating passenger inconvenience were issued by the ministry on Monday to all the airlines.
Also, sufficient Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) manpower availability will be ensured round-the-clock. The minister further said the runway RWY 29L at Delhi Airport has been made CAT III operational. A CAT III landing is a precision approach that allows aircraft to land safely in low-visibility conditions.

“Operationalisation of RWY 10/28 as CAT III at Delhi Airport after re-carpeting will also be undertaken,” the minister said in a post on X.
Delhi has been witnessing unprecedented fog wherein visibility fluctuated for several hours, and at times, dropped to zero.

In the past 72 hours, over 600 flights, both domestic and international were delayed due to the severe weather conditions. “It is my earnest request to all travellers to bear with us during this difficult period.

All stakeholders are trying their best to minimize passenger inconvenience. Incidences of unruly behaviour amidst this are unacceptable, and will be dealt with strongly in line with the existing legal provisions,” Scindia said.