Rahul’s flight not given landing clearance at Kochi owing to ‘paucity of time to process application’

Responding to Congress claims of the MP's flight not being given landing clearance at the naval airport, defence ministry staff says 'normal notice period in such cases is approximately 24 hours'.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses the inauguration of Amrut Drinking Water Project & Key Handover of ambulance to PHC, Valad, in Wayanad on Thursday | ANI

New Delhi: A day after the Congress party alleged that the defence ministry did not grant landing permission to an aircraft carrying party leader Rahul Gandhi at the naval airport in Kochi, Kerala, ministry sources told ThePrint that flight clearance could not be given because there was not enough time to process the application.

Mohammed Shiyas, the president of Ernakulam District Congress Committee, Friday claimed that the ministry had first given permission for the plane to land at the Naval facility but later cancelled it.

Consequently, the aircraft, carrying Gandhi from Kannur, was directed to the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) in nearby Nedumbassery, according to a news agency report.

Gandhi was on a three-day visit to Kerala starting Wednesday, where he participated in various events across his parliamentary constituency of Wayanad and other districts.

According to a defence ministry source: “A request for an unscheduled chartered flight along with flight plan was received at INS Garuda naval air station at Kochi at 09:40 hours on 1 December.”

“The flight schedule was for a departure from Kannur at 10:45 hours on 1 December with the arrival at Kochi at 11:15 hours. The same was forwarded to Naval Headquarters at about 10:15 hours after verification accord of approval of the competent authority,” the source added.

According to the source, “However, due to a paucity of time to process the application for landing at the naval airfield, the clearance for the flight could not be taken. The flight thereafter took off at about 11:55 hours and landed at Cochin International Airport at 12:25 hours.”

According to the source, normal notice period for such flights is approximately 24 hours to allow all actions to be taken, which was not available in this case. “Normally, all charter flights at Kochi proceed to Cochin International Airport,” the source explained.

(Edited by Richa Mishra)