The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Tuesday said that the steps it had initiated to tackle flight delay and cancellation issues have led to reduction in such cases.

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia elaborated on the steps taken to tackle fog during winter months and said that the effort had resulted in significant reduction in flight delay and cancellation issues due to fog.

Replying to an unstarred question in the House on Monday, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Gen. VK Singh (Retd) said that the DGCA engages with stakeholders every year ahead of the fog period to ensure its preparedness for fog-related operations.

Listing the steps initiated prior to the onset of fog period, the Minister said that special audits of CAT II/III and ILS facilities are carried out to ensure uninterrupted Air Navigation Services (ANS) during the period of fog. Besides, inspections are made to ensure that critical/sensitive areas are secured appropriately at aerodromes.

The DGCA also issues directions to airlines to bring changes in their flight schedules to eliminate CAT II/III non-compliant aircraft from operating during fog and instructions are also given to airlines to ensure scheduling of CAT II/III qualified crew only.

To prepare for the onset of the fog period, the number of inspections and special audits were increased over the last two years to enhance various facilities at airports and in the area of Air Navigation Services. As a result, despite an increase in flights by about 20%, flight cancellations, which was 0.09% during 2021-2022 of total flight movements, reduced to 0.05% of the total flight movements in 2022-2023, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, while replying to a supplementary to a starred question in the Rajya Sabha, said that as per the Civil Aviation Rules (CAR), in case of flight cancellation before 1-2 hours of departure time, airlines need to immediately arrange another connecting flight. In case there is a delay beyond 5 to 6 hours, it is the airline’s responsibility to arrange for a hotel stay, refund passengers, and provide them with the next available flight.

The government plans to further improve preparedness for fog conditions through regular surveillance of various facilities such as aerodrome, Air Navigation Services, Meteorological equipment etc. to ensure compliance towards applicable regulations, the ministry said.

“Audits of fog-affected airports are done to ensure uninterrupted Air Navigational Services, aerodrome lightings and other related facilities. Besides, it is also ensured that critical and sensitive areas are appropriately secured before the onset of fog period,” it added.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has also issued direction to Airlines before onset of fog to bring changes in flight schedules to eliminate CAT II/III non-compliant aircraft from operating during the fog period; to ensure scheduling of only CAT II/III qualified crew for fog-affected airports, and that the passenger handling during delays are as per the laid down norms.

The airlines also need to ensure deployment of aircraft maintenance engineers at diversion airports.