HYDERABAD: Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, on Wednesday said that cranes (near the airport) will be used on the Dwarka Expressway only when there are no visibility issues for flight operations.

In a response to the various allegations levelled by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on X, Scindia said, “…crane was being used for the construction of another critical infrastructure project – the Dwarka Expressway. However, in view of its impact on the runway, it has now been decided that the crane operation shall be allowed only on non-fog days. Thus, runway 11R/29L is operational as CAT III as of Tuesday (Jan 16).”

Tharoor, in a series of tweets on Tuesday criticised the government and the aviation ministry over multiple issues. “Delhi Airport has been in chaos recently…. It’s a ModiGovt-made disaster, a result of the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s neglect and incompetence,” he alleged.

Cranes on the Expressway are being used for critical projects like Urban Extension Road II that aims to connect Alipur to Mahipalpur. These cranes or any structure that comes in the flight path, interfere with localiser signals on the instrument landing system (ILS) on Delhi airport’s runway 29L causing issues in the flight operations.

Currently, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA)’s backbone runway 28/10, which is also CAT III compliant is closed for operations because of the ongoing re-carpeting work. It is, however, likely to become operational in a few days.

Responding about the same to Tharoor, Scindia said, “Runway maintenance work is a critical safety element for aviation operations, and any compromise with runway conditions directly jeopardises passenger safety. As a result, maintenance was taken on top priority to be completed by December 15, 2023, before the onset of the fog season. However, due to pollution incidents and enforcement of GRAP-IV in Delhi (that bans all construction works), the recarpeting got delayed, resulting in a delay of one month in its commissioning. The revamped runway (28/10) is getting operational this week.”

Scindia said the country has adequately trained pilots.

“As compared to only 2,416 CAT II/CAT III trained pilots in 2014, today we have 6,191 CAT II/CAT III trained pilots which is a jump of 2.5 times in the last nine years. Further, in preparation for the fog season of 2023-24, due to our efforts, the number of CAT II/CAT III trained pilots have grown by 16% in the last three months alone from 5,332 to 6,191,” he said.

As per the aviation regulator’s rules, only CAT IIIB compliant aircraft with qualified crew are allowed to land into the cities that witness fog during winter season.

Speaking about a show cause notice issued to Air India and SpiceJet for not rostering qualified pilots (as per mandate), to land in Delhi in December last year, Scindia said, “Any violations are strictly dealt with by the regulator, DGCA. For instance, show cause notices were issued to Air India and SpiceJet.”

Talking about the CAT III operations, he said, “It would be prudent to know about the three dependent factors for CAT III Landings: runway capability, aircraft capability and pilot accreditation. And thus, CAT III operations are decided by the highest common factor among the three variables.”

He said that the two CAT III runways at Delhi Airport are equipped for aircraft to land with minimum visibility of up to 50 metres.

“However, the majority of the aircraft fleet in India — Airbus 320 (75 metres) and Boeing 737 Max (175 metres) have visibility minima greater than the runway threshold,” Scindia said.

“Thus, even if the runway is capable and sufficiently trained CAT III pilots are made available, these aircraft are not designed for zero visibility operations,” he added.

Giving an example of New York’s JFK airport, he said that even JFK airport has four runways of which only one is capable of CAT III landings “with a restricted minima up to 182 metres (600 feet) – 3.5 times of India’s 50 metres.”

Scindia also spoke about the Goa- Delhi flight that was diverted to Mumbai after which passengers were made to sit near the aircraft.

Responding to Tharoor, he said, “the treatment meted out to passengers in the instant case was unacceptable, and we have acted immediately in the form of a show cause notice to the operators concerned. Further, SOPs for better communication to passengers were also issued. Implementation is being monitored thrice daily. Corrective action is underway as we speak. Rest assured that any laxity in this regard will be meted with zero tolerance.”

The minister said that the DGCA keeps a strict watch on the passenger complaints regarding mistreatment and penalises operators if found guilty. For instance, since 2022, airlines have been imposed with fines for not providing passenger amenities as per the DGCA guidelines.

Having said this, Scindia attacked Tharoor and said, “CARs (civil aviation requirements) implemented during the UPA rule in 2010 were, as expected, inadequate for enforcing passenger rights and had to be amended multiple times by the DGCA to incorporate provisions for safeguarding passenger rights!”

He also spoke about new airlines including Akasa that have formed the government’s supportive policies.

“Under the NDA govt, along with Akasa, five new regional airlines have taken birth under the Prime Minister’s UDAN vision. Fleet size has increased from 400 in 2014 to 730 today, and will reach 1,500 – 2,000 by 2030. Airports have doubled from 74 in the last 65 years to 149 today. This will reach 220 in the next 3-4 years,” Scindia said.