Indigo rushes to Supreme Court over Meghalaya order to make Umroi airport operational

A suo moto order by the Meghalaya High Court Chief Justice asking two private airlines — Indigo and Jet Airways — to commence commercial flights from the state's newly-inaugurated Umroi airport has got the two aviation companies in a fix. To seek respite before the next HC hearing on December 14, Indigo has rushed to the Supreme Court for an early hearing on Thursday and the CJI has accommodated the request.

Representing Indigo, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi told the bench that the Meghalaya HC passed an extraordinary order on December 7, which demanded an undertaking from the companies as to when they can commence commercial operations from Umroi airport at the earliest.

Rohatgi said that the HC passed the order without hearing them and the next date of hearing is fixed for December 14. He claimed that the airport does not have sufficient fire safety equipments and without taking this fact into account, the HC asked Indigo to indicate a date when they can begin operating their flights. "The operation can't start," Rohatgi submitted before the bench.

The decision to allocate air routes is determined by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Once the routes are allocated, private operators decide on whether to operate flights there considering the availability of fleet and commercial viability. Even the DGCA and the Airports Authority of India are parties before the HC.