In a first, Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL) on Friday asked all the airlines to cancel all domestic flights scheduled between 10.30 am and 12.15 pm from January 18 to January 26 from Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, reported The Hindustan Times.
According to reports, this may lead to cancellation of more than 100 domestic flights each day.
“IGIA in consultation with Airports Authority of India (AAI) and NATS (UK-based ATC expert agency) has implemented a profile schedule which has enhanced the overall capacity by almost 13%. However, keeping into consideration the capacity constraints and to minimise inconvenience to passengers, AAI, several major airlines and DIAL consulted on various options and jointly agreed that the best and safest course of action is to cancel domestic flights during NOTAM period. International carriers have been requested to re-schedule,” the DIAL statement read.
Starting January 19 every year, airspace over Delhi remain closed for 60-90 minutes for rehearsals for the air flypast that is a regular feature of the Republic Day parade.
Every year the airlines are asked to reschedule their flights, but for the first time this year, the DIAL has asked the domestic airlines to cancel all of their flights for these nine days. In addition, the duration has also been expanded to nine days, from six, this year.
According to a report in The Times of India, the number of cancelled flights could actually be higher as the notice for airmen is for flights with a “buffer time of plus or minus 30 minutes”. "The numbers of flights to be cancelled may increase as we are closing the airport for any arrival and departure between the time slot of 10.30 am and 12.15pm every day from January 18 to January 26," TOI reported quoting an official.
"Cancellations of flights so close to the date of departure creates a lot of problems for us, as we will now have to face passengers' ire when it is not due to the airline's fault," a senior executive (airline) told The Economic Times. "Based on the norm till last year, airlines only had to retime their flights, which was manageable, as passengers could fly," he added.