Indian budget airline, IndiGo, was slapped with a Rs12 million fine from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) related to the viral video showing passengers sitting and eating on the airport tarmac. According to airport sources, the Goa-Delhi flight was diverted to Mumbai due to operational issues.
After a video went viral showing travellers sitting on the tarmac as the flight from Goa to Delhi was diverted to Mumbai. The airline on Monday issued a statement and apologised to the customers, assuring that it would take necessary steps to avoid any such instances in the future.
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Indigo Airline issued a statement and said, “We are aware of the incident involving IndiGo flight 6E2195 from Goa to Delhi on January 14, 2024. The flight was diverted to Mumbai due to low visibility conditions in Delhi. We sincerely apologise to our customers and we are currently looking into the incident. We will take the necessary steps to avoid any such instances in the future.”
The aviation security regulator BCAS imposed a Rs6 million penalty on Mumbai airport operator MIAL for the incident involving passengers having food on the tarmac. DGCA stated that the response to the Show Cause Notice, received on Wednesday, was deemed unsatisfactory.
“Regulators says that the reply to the Show Cause Notice was received on 17.01.2024 and was not found satisfactory as the response submitted by MIAL shows that they have failed to adhere to the safety requirements as laid down in the Air Safety Circular 04 of 2007,” ministry official said.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport also issued a statement in connection to the incident and said that the passengers were kept under the strict watch of the airline authorities and security until further actions were taken.
“Indigo 6E 2195 (Goa to Delhi) was diverted due to unfavourable weather conditions. As the flight was already significantly delayed in Goa, passengers were irate and rushed out of the aircraft as soon as the step ladder was connected. The airport operators, in coordination with CISF QRT, cordoned off the passengers into a safety zone as passengers refused to get into the airline coach and proceed to the terminal building. Passengers were kept under the strict watch of the airline authorities and security until further action was taken,” it said.
Unprecedented fog
Meanwhile, low visibility and dense fog conditions across North India impacted IndiGo flight operations, causing inconvenience to passengers travelling by air on Sunday.
According to an official statement from IndiGo Airlines, “Due to the low visibility and dense fog conditions across North India, IndiGo flight operations were impacted on January 14, 2024. This had a cascading effect on our operations throughout the day. Our staff kept passengers apprised of all delays and cancellations across airports and made every possible effort to facilitate the passengers. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers.”
The national capital shivered in the cold weather, with the minimum temperature recorded at Delhi’s Safdarjung at 3.3 degrees Celsius on Monday morning.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), fog conditions observed (at 0830 hours IST of today): dense to very dense fog reported over isolated pockets over Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar of Punjab; dense fog reported in some parts of Haryana and Chandigarh.
“Visibility was recorded as ‘zero for the first time this winter season in Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, Patiala, Ambala, Chandigarh, Palam, Safdarjung (New Delhi), Bareilly, Lucknow, Bahraich, Varanasi, Prayagraj, and Tezpur,” it added.