Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Dr Mahesh Sharma informed the Lok Sabha today that:

-        All airlines would have to ensure that aircraft deployed to/from Delhi during low visibility conditions are CAT-III compliant and both the commander and co-pilot are also CAT-III trained.

          Other decisions by Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA) include:

-        Only CAT-III flight crew will operate the flights to/from Delhi in case weather predictions of CAT-III conditions are made by IMD. Failing to do so, such operations of the defaulting airline will be stopped to/from Delhi during low visibility conditions.

-        Airlines must take adequate care of providing basic amenities of water and refreshment to passengers during such conditions if the flights are delayed.

-        All stakeholders should have better communication procedure so that level of interaction with passengers increases during the fog and they are aware of flight delays.;

-        One representative each from DGCA and IMD will be positioned at AOCC, DIAL who will interact with airlines, AAI and DIAL. DIAL will organise conference on daily basis wherein fog forecast for the day and next day will be provided by IMD.

-        Advance information of weather forecast availability to airlines.

All these decisions have been implemented with immediate effect.

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SA/IK