Amid travel delay chaos, Delhi airport writes to NHAI over crane blocking view on runway

Amid social media backlash over inordinate delays in flight operations, Delhi airport on Monday wrote to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a crane blocking view on CAT III-compliant runway. 

This runway will help in smoother flight operations during zero visibility amid heavy fog. 

In a letter, Delhi airport told NHAI about a cranme blocking view on Gurgaon end of the only CAT III-compliant runway that is currently operational at the airport. The GRM-run airport this crane has rendered one end of the runway unviable for landings during low visibility. 

"It has come to our attention that subsequent to joint  confirmation on 5th Jan 2024 one of the crane was re-erected by M/s JKumar (J.Kumar Infraprojects) at 1900 hrs over the railway underpass near Sector 21, Dwarka against the provisions of SOP," said Delhi airport in the letter, which was accessed by India Today.

“Unauthorised erection of the cranes especially after the joint inspection and confirmation poses a serious collision risk for the low flying aircraft creating an avoidable dangerous situation apart from credibility challenges," the airport added.

A total of five flights were diverted at the Delhi airport early morning on Monday due to bad weather, according to an official. Four flights were diverted to Jaipur and one flight to Ahmedabad between 1 am and 5 am, the official said. On Sunday, 10 flights were diverted and some were cancelled as the airport operations were significantly impacted due to low visibility conditions and dense fog.

"Delhi airport has been asked to immediately expedite the operationalization of the CAT III-enabled 4th runway (in addition to the existing CAT III-enabled runway) to the satisfaction of DGCA," said Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia on X platform.