By IANS
New Delhi : With the winter season closing in, Delhi airport authorities have made arrangements for keeping passengers informed about any flight delays due to foggy conditions, as most domestic airlines are not prepared to fly in low visibility.
“We are extensively working on two strategies – first to provide all information regarding flight delays, departures and arrivals to the passengers via media and through personal calls or SMSs,” Andrew Harrison, chief operating officer of the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), said Monday.
“Secondly, we are hiring 60 ground staff officials, who will collect the information from the airlines related to flight timings and will pass it on to the passengers in advance. The new hired staff will be sitting next to the reservation counters inside the airport premises,” Harrison told reporters.
He added that passengers come to the airport unprepared in the absence of information, which in turn increases the problem.
The official said temporary structures were being built inside the airport premises, which could accommodate nearly 400-500 passengers waiting for their flights.
“We are also planning to provide food and beverages to the waiting passengers. But it is still in the nascent stage,” he said.
When asked about those airlines not equipped with the CAT-III instrument that enables planes to land and take off despite visibility as low as 50 metres, Harrison said: “We have called a meeting with all airlines representatives next week and the matter will discussed thoroughly.”
Last winter, foggy conditions led to complete chaos at the capital’s domestic airport for many days.
Many passengers could face a similar situation this year, as many private airlines are not keen to train their pilots on the Instrument Landing System (ILS) that helps flights land and take off even in thick fog.
Among the 12-13 domestic airlines that operate nearly 170 flights per day from here, only Indian and Kingfisher are capable of flying in thick fog conditions, when visibility drops to 200m-50m.
A senior airport official said only some of their pilots are trained to operate flights with CAT-III instrument and ILS.
“Private airlines are not training their pilots under this programme as it is very costly and the programme’s dynamics change with the advancement in technology every day. Airlines only prefer to reschedule flights instead of spending money on training,” the official added.
Last year, the DIAL had promised the same precautions and measures, but despite their efforts passengers were forced to stand in long queues outside the airport building and struggle for the flight information.