Tag: IndiGo flights

  • DGCA suspends air traffic controller who approved IndiGo flights that came too close after take off

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator DGCA has suspended an air traffic controller for three months for approving simultaneous departures of IndiGo flights at the Bengaluru airport on January 7 that led to them coming too close just after take off.

    The two IndiGo flights — 6E455 (Bengaluru to Kolkata) and 6E246 (Bengaluru to Bhubaneswar) — averted a mid-air collision over the Bengaluru airport just after their simultaneous take off from north runway and south runway, respectively, on January 7 morning.

    The incident was called “breach of separation”, which happens when two aircraft cross the minimum mandatory vertical or horizontal distance in the airspace.

    In a statement on Monday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said, “South tower controller gave departure to 6E 455 in coordination with Approach Radar controller and at the same time North tower controller gave departure to 6E 246 without prior coordination with south tower controller and Approach Radar controller.”

    As both aircraft after departure were on converging heading (moving towards each other), Approach Radar controller gave diverging heading to separate these aircraft, the regulator noted.

    “At the closet point of conflict, the vertical and lateral separation between both aircraft was 100 feet (Standard 1000ft) and 0.9 NM (Standard 3NM),” it said.

    This entire matter was classified as “serious incident” and was investigated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), it noted.

    Based on the regulatory assessment, the DGCA has decided to issue a “warning letter to Tower supervisor for not monitoring the activities of the ATC (air traffic controller) tower and non-reporting of incident”, it said.

    Also, the license of the “North tower controller who was also the watch supervisory officer (WSO) of the shift” has been suspended for a period of three months as he did not follow procedures and rules regarding runway operations and he did not report the incident, the DGCA said.

  • IndiGo to start 22 new flights from March 28 onwards

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: IndiGo on Thursday said it will start 22 new flights from March 28 onwards from various cities including Agartala, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Chennai, Bengaluru, Patna and Tirupati.

    “IndiGo will operate new flights between Agartala-Aizawl under RCS (regional connectivity scheme) and exclusive flights between Bhubaneswar-Patna, Jaipur-Vadodara, Chennai-Vadodara, Bengaluru-Shirdi, Patna-Kochi, and Rajahmundry-Tirupati,” the airline said in a release.

    It will also commence flights between Kolkata-Gaya, Cochin-Trivandrum, Jaipur-Surat, Chennai-Surat from March 28 onwards, the release said.

    Indian carriers have been focusing more on domestic routes post coronavirus lockdown last year as scheduled international flights remain suspended in the country since March 23 last year.

    Moreover, the Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday increased the lower and upper limits on domestic airfares by 10 to 30 per cent.

    While announcing the resumption of scheduled domestic flights on May 21 last year, the ministry had placed limits on airfares through seven bands classified on the basis of flight duration.

  • IndiGo to resume direct flights on Kolkata-Shillong route from February 1

    By PTI
    SHILLONG: Private carrier IndiGo will resume direct flights between Kolkata and Shillong from February 1 with the Meghalaya government reopening the state for tourists after remaining closed for almost 10 months due to COVID-19, Airports Authority of India (AAI) said on Friday.

    The northeastern state was connected with Delhi last month by direct flight services of regional airline flying.

    “After long suspension of their flight due to #COVID19 pandemic, M/s Indigo @IndiGo6E is all set to resume its Kolkata flt (flight) from 1st Feb.

    Booking is started.

    “This is second major boost to tourism in #Meghalaya after Delhi flt (flight) by @flybigairlines,” AAI Shillong Airport authorities said on Twitter.

    IndiGo had commenced operations to and from Shillong — its 54th domestic destination– in July 2019 under the regional connectivity scheme.