New Delhi: A day after dense fog forced delays and much chaos at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, the central government has directed authorities to make the under-repair, fog-compliant runway operation as soon as possible.
This fourth runway, which has been under repair since September, is CAT III compliant. CAT III is a category of Instrument landing system (ILS) facility which is a dependable means of navigating to the runway in low-visibility conditions.
Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia appealed to passengers Monday to “bear with us during this difficult period”, adding in a post on X that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) would also issue a standard operating procedure (SOP) for airlines for better communication “to minimise discomfort in view of flight cancellations & delays due to adverse weather”.
“All stakeholders are trying their best to minimise passenger inconvenience. Incidences of unruly behaviour amidst this are unacceptable, and will be dealt with strongly in line with the existing legal provisions,” he said.
His comments come after a passenger onboard an IndiGo aircraft slapped a pilot when he was announcing a further delay in take-off from the Delhi airport.
“Yesterday, Delhi witnessed unprecedented fog wherein visibility fluctuated for several hours, and at times, dropped to zero between 5 AM to 9 AM,” the minister said in the post.
He added authorities were compelled to enforce a shut-down of operations for some time “even on CAT III runways (CAT III runways cannot handle Zero-Visibility operations). The decision was taken keeping passenger safety in mind, which remains the foremost priority for all in the aviation ecosystem”.
To mitigate the situation in the near future, the Union minister said that Delhi airport had been “asked to immediately expedite the operationalization of the CAT III-enabled 4th runway (in addition to the existing CAT III-enabled runway) to the satisfaction of the @DGCAIndia, in order to get approvals.”
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
There are four runways at the Delhi airport, of which three are operational. Of the operational runways, only one is CAT III-enabled.
Amid allegations that only one runway was operational on Sunday and early Monday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation 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
“Data from 5 am to 9 am shows that the CAT III Runway RWY 11R/29L handled 30 landings and 1 take off during the 4 hour period whereas the non- CAT III Runway RWY 9/27 couldn’t handle any flight movement and RWY 11L/29R handled 2 Take-offs during the period,” it said in a post on X.
According to information on the website of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Cat III can be further divided into CATIIIA, CATIIIB and CATIIIC. The Delhi airport is equipped with CATIIIB, which can help in landing when the runway visual range is less than 200 metres but not less than 50 metres.
Other airports in the country that support this technology are in Amritsar, Jaipur, Lucknow and Kolkata.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also read: Legal action initiated against passenger for assault on pilot in Goa-bound Indigo flight