The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has recently asked Mumbai airport to reduce the number of flights and private jets to ease congestion and improve on-time departures, a concern several passengers have raised in the past. Adhering to the directive, the airlines are gearing up to cancel hundreds of flights till March 30 in order to alleviate runway congestion from Mumbai airport.
According to a Times of India report, quoting The Economic Times, around 40 flights are scheduled to be cancelled from this week.
Which airlines are cancelling flights?
It is learnt that IndiGo, which operates the highest number of flights, will have cut to 18 flights while Air India, including Vistara, will cancel at least 17 flights.
Also, the restrictions on business jets have been increased from four hours to eight hours.
Akasa Airlines said on Tuesday that it is cancelling 90 flights until March 30.
SpiceJet did not specify the number of flights it will cancel, but said it will comply with the government directive.
Will this affect other routes?
Airline operators have said the current restrictions are likely to affect flights to and from Mumbai. Therefore, two flights will be cancelled from February 15 to March 30. The passengers will be given the option to rebook the flight or receive a full refund. Those who are rebooking can opt for rescheduling the flight until April 15.
According to aviation firm Cirium’s data, Akasa Air and SpiceJet operate 54 flights and 34 flights per day, respectively, to and from the Mumbai airport. The bigger airlines such as IndiGo and Air India operate 370 flights and 163 flights per day, respectively, to and from the Mumbai airport.
Why has the government taken this decision?
The Ministry of Civil Aviation, headed by Jyotiraditya Scindia, has intervened into the matter after the AAI issued the directive to the Mumbai airport to reduce slot allocations (specific time allotted for take-offs and landings), which cause congestion, waiting time for aircraft. The government is also looking into the concerns raised by the passengers over fare hike on affected routes.
The ministry, in a statement on Tuesday night, stated: “While Mumbai Airport is running at its full capacity, it was found that the persistent congestion was caused due to: excessive slot distribution with limited time margins on behalf of the airport operator; non-adherence of the slots on behalf of the airlines and; non-scheduled operations during peak hours.”
According to the ministry, the analysis report by the AAI revealed that aircraft movement during peak hours resulted in nearly the same traffic volume as the remaining 18 hours combined. Business and military jets were permitted to fly without restrictions during peak hours.
The ministry pointed out that the high fuel consumption cost due to congestion-related delays are passed on to passengers by increasing airfares. This overall affects the airport operations, increasing wait time and delays for both airlines and customers.
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