City airport sets up ‘war room’ to tackle fog-related delays

Following the Centre’s direction to airports on tackling fog-related flight delays, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport is learnt to set up a war room to respond to challenges.

The Kolkata airport authorities are learnt to have shared that a team has been formed that would update the Centre thrice daily about fog-related flight disruptions at the airport. The airport officials said that this will help them cope better with such situations.

It was added that such an initiative will also help affected passengers make decisions on learning that their flight has been cancelled. Travel agents too have backed the idea saying it will help their clients decide whether to travel or cancel their trip, or plan an alternate destination.

Amid fog-related flight disruptions, the civil aviation ministry has asked Delhi, Mumbai and four other metro airports to report about incidents three times a day and these airports as well as airlines will also set up ‘war rooms’ to address passenger issues. Civil Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said it will also ensure that there is sufficient CISF manpower availability round-the-clock at the airports.

Against this backdrop, aviation regulator DGCA on Monday issued a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) after Scindia said all stakeholders are working round-the-clock to minimise fog-related disruptions.