NEW DELHI: The Civil Aviation Ministry has imposed substantial fines on IndiGo and Mumbai airport operator (MIAL) in response to a widely circulated video depicting passengers dining on the airport runway following the delayed Goa-Delhi flight on January 14. The ministry, exhibiting a stringent stance, fined Mumbai airport Rs 90 lakh and IndiGo a hefty Rs 1.20 crore.
Air India and SpiceJet also faced penalties for regulatory violations, with IndiGo incurring fines from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and Mumbai Airport from both the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and BCAS, totalling Rs 30 lakh and Rs 60 lakh, respectively.
The DGCA, serving as the enforcer of fines, declared dissatisfaction with MIAL’s response to the show-cause notice, revealing a blatant disregard for safety requirements stipulated in the Air Safety Circular 04 of 2007.
The catalyst for this action was a viral video capturing passengers enjoying a meal on the tarmac, prompting the aviation ministry to seek clarifications from the implicated parties. The notice to IndiGo emphasised that the airline permitted passengers to disembark and board another flight without adhering to mandatory security screening procedures, thereby violating established aviation regulations.
In a parallel development, the DGCA handed out fines of Rs 30 lakh each to Air India and SpiceJet for their failure to roster pilots trained for low-visibility conditions. This penalty was a direct response to the diversion of flights due to dense fog at Delhi airport in December 2023.
The recently issued show-cause notices were prompted by concerns arising from flight diversions in late December.
The notice from the civil aviation regulator coincided with a situation where more than 50 flights bound for Delhi were redirected due to low visibility between December 24-25 and December 27-28. During these periods, the national capital and its surrounding regions were shrouded in dense fog, leading to numerous flights being rerouted to nearby airports as visibility plummeted to as little as 0-50 metres on certain occasions.
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