The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been directed to issue a circular to all minor and major airports to conduct a thorough inspection of structural strength. These inspections must be completed within five days and reports need to be submitted to Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Following the roof collapse at Terminal 1 of Delhi Airport and other similar incidents during last week, Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Rammohan Naidu, convened a high-level review meeting with key officials, including the Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Director General of Civil Aviation, Chairman of the Airports Authority of India, Director General of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, and Joint Secretaries of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
To address the ongoing situation and ensure the safety and convenience of passengers, Naidu advised that a 24/7 War Room will be established under the close monitoring of the Ministry of Civil Aviation to ensure the full refund of cancelled flights or provide alternative travel route tickets as per availability. All refunds will be processed within a stipulated time of seven days, and contact details, including phone numbers, will be provided to passengers for immediate assistance.
In an incident that took place last week, the canopy of Delhi Airport’s Terminal 1, which handles domestic flights, collapsed on Friday morning due to heavy rains and the flight operations were disrupted. Terminal 1, which handles domestic flights for IndiGo and SpiceJet, saw both the airlines issuing statements regards to the disruptions and almost 100 flights were cancelled.
During the meet, emphasis was also placed on making passenger comfort a top priority and implementing measures to handle the additional stress on T2 and T3 terminals due to the temporary closure of T1.
An advisory has been released to all airlines to ensure that this situation does not lead to a steep increase in airfare, emphasising the need to maintain fare stability to avoid passenger inconvenience. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been directed to issue a circular to all minor and major airports to conduct a thorough inspection of structural strength. These inspections must be completed within the next five days, and the reports are to be submitted to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Based on the findings, the need for increased safety measures and the development of long-term policies to prevent the recurrence of such unfortunate incidents will be formulated as a priority.
Additionally, structural engineers from IIT Delhi have been asked to immediately assess the incident at Delhi T1, with further examination to be decided based on their initial findings. Similarly, AAI will have the Jabalpur incident examined. Union Minister Naidu emphasised that passenger safety and convenience are of utmost priority. The Ministry, along with all related agencies, is working tirelessly to ensure a swift resolution to the current challenges and to enhance the overall safety standards of our airports, he added.
