The Bombay high court on Thursday expressed concern over the air traffic congestion at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
The Bombay high court on Thursday expressed concern over the air traffic congestion at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
“To say that there is no congestion in air traffic is running far away from the reality,” observed justice FI Rebello. “People are being charged extra by the airlines to provide various facilities, including the on-time landing of flights.”
The court was hearing a PIL filed by Resources of Aviation
Redressal and seven others. Filed in 2009, the PIL claimed that the air traffic congestion at the international airport was jeopardising security of passengers.
“We want to highlight the current operational policies adopted by the Mumbai International Airport Limited (Mial) in particular, which has resulted in minimising and or jeopardising the security of the passengers for generating more and more revenue,” the petition claimed
The petition also highlights as to how the director general of civil aviation (DGCA), though specifically empowered to curtail wastage of aviation fuel and further empowered to ensure safety and security of passengers, is ignoring and neglecting the air congestion at the airport.
The petition also pointed out that the authorities, including the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), is ignoring safety norms and wasting precious aviation fuel to maximise personal profits.
Mial’s advocate Bhavik Manek said that the agency took over the airport operation in 2006. “Air traffic has increased to 25 million now and there are some slots in which airlines do not operate as they are not peak hours,” Manek told the court.
A division bench of justice Rebello and justice JH Bhatia has directed the DGCA, Airport Authority of India, Mial and the FIA to file separate affidavits in three weeks.
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