To achieve this, the Airports Authority of India, responsible for air navigation services, has asked Mumbai airport to reduce aircraft movement from 46 to 44 during peak hours and from 44 to 42 during non-peak hours, according to an ET report. Instructed to do so.
Industry officials familiar with the matter have said airlines will reduce flights by about 40 from this week due to the directive. IndigoThe company that operates the most flights will have to reduce 18 flights, while the Air India group, including Vistara, will have to reduce 17 flights.
Departure on time from Mumbai airport
Additionally, the curfew on business jet operations has been increased from four hours to eight hours, resulting in protests by major corporate groups such as Reliance Industries, JSW and Mahindra Group, the report said.
Airport operator Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) declined to comment at this time.
is owned by Adani Group, the airport is the second busiest airport in the country after Delhi and experiences significant business jet traffic. In December, it handled a record-breaking monthly traffic of 4.88 million passengers, and handled more flights than any other airport with a single runway.
Sources familiar with the matter have revealed that the decision was taken due to concerns raised by Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia regarding the decline in on-time departure performance at the airport.
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Senior air traffic controllers have identified overscheduling by airlines in response to increased demand for air travel as the primary cause of delays this year.
According to a government official, the runway capacity depends on various factors such as availability of infrastructure, parking stands and time taken by aircraft to clear the runway. Airlines are allocated slots based on peak operating capacity, but delays occur when aircraft in adjacent parking bays are unable to move due to aircraft being pushed back from another bay. Additionally, scheduled flights in a city like Mumbai sometimes get further delayed due to unscheduled activities such as government and commercial aircraft.
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The government has also instructed airports to consider unexpected circumstances when forecasting peak season capacity for the upcoming summer schedule.
Airline network planners have expressed concern that such sudden cancellations hinder their ability to redeploy aircraft, resulting in financial losses. An airline official said the airlines will have to pay adequate compensation to the affected passengers.
(TagstoTranslate)Business News(T)Punctuality(T)Private Jet(T)Mumbai Airport(T)IndiGo(T)Congestion(T)Airlines(T)Adani