IndiGo, Mumbai airport operator get notices after passengers eat on tarmac

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has issued notices to and the Mumbai airport operator, MIAL, citing multiple violations of security rules and inadequate arrangements in handling passengers of the Goa Delhi flight that was diverted to the nation's financial capital on Sunday night. A video of the passengers eating on the tarmac went viral on social media on Monday.

The dense fog in north India since Sunday morning has disrupted airlines' flight schedules. "After a video of passengers eating on the tarmac at Mumbai Airport went viral on social media, Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia held a meeting with all ministry officials at midnight yesterday.

In the early hours of January 16 (Tuesday), the Ministry of Civil Aviation's BCAS issued show cause notices to Indigo and Mumbai Airport," said a ministry. It has asked IndiGo and the Adani Group led Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) to reply to the notices on Tuesday. "If replies are not received in the given time then enforcement action including financial penalty will be initiated," the ministry added.

The notices accused IndiGo and MIAL of not being "proactive in anticipating the situation and making the appropriate facilitation arrangements for passengers at the airport”. The flight, 6E2195, departed from the Goa airport at around 11pm on Sunday after more than 12 hours of delay. It was then diverted to Mumbai.

Passengers from this flight were permitted to disembark on the tarmac at Mumbai airport. Subsequently, they remained there. Many of them sat there and ate food. These passengers were then directed to board another IndiGo flight, 6E2091, without undergoing mandatory security screening, according to the notices.

The 6E2091 was heading to Delhi. As per the notices, the aircraft handling IndiGo's Goa Delhi flight was allotted a remote bay C 33 instead of a contact stand, which is an aircraft parking stand suitable for walking passengers to and from an aircraft from an allocated boarding gate. This further added to passenger woes and deprived them the opportunity to avail basic facilities like rest rooms and refreshments at the terminal.

"This resulted in an unfavorable, unacceptable experience for the tired and harassed passengers. The flight operation was planned and executed without taking passenger convenience, laid down security norms and the operational issues into account," said the notices. Moreover, IndiGo and MIAL did not inform the BCAS about this incident, which is mandatory under security rules.

The MIAL also did not forewarn the CISF's Aviation Security Group about the situation related to the Goa Delhi flight. On Monday, 867 flights at the Delhi airport were delayed amid dense fog, according to flight radar24.com. The Delhi airport handles about 1,200 daily flights. India’s aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday asked airlines to give real time updates on flight delays, as it issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) in the wake of severe disruptions caused by fog since Sunday morning and flared tempers among passengers.

On Sunday, a passenger on board an IndiGo flight (6E2175) physically assaulted a pilot who was making an announcement about a delayed takeoff due to fog in Delhi. The video of the incident went viral. Scindia termed such behaviour on the part of passengers as “unacceptable”. In the SOP, the DGCA has asked airlines to cancel flights that are anticipated to be delayed or are delayed for more than three hours on account of fog or other adverse weather conditions.

This will help obviate “congestion at the airport and mitigate passenger inconvenience”, it noted. The regulator has also asked airlines to publish real time information on flight delays on their websites and provide advance information to passengers via SMS, WhatsApp and email. It has also asked airlines to sensitise their airport staff to “suitably communicate with and continuously guide and inform the passengers about flight delays”.

Scindia has also asked the GMR Group led Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which runs the airport in the national capital, to expedite refurbishment of its fourth runway. The Runway 28/10 has been closed for renovation since mid September. It is the second runway at Delhi airport that is equipped with the CAT III Instrument Landing System (ILS), which can guide a CAT III proficient pilot during the aircraft’s descent and landing when visibility is as low as 50 metres..