Mumbai: Delays are a matter of routine now for passengers landing in the city at night or flying out in the morning. But in case you are wondering whom to blame read on.
If airport officials are to be believed, the "faulty" flight schedules approved by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) are responsible for your woes.
Consider this: Every day at least five planes are scheduled for take off at 9.30 am from the airport; another three at 9.20 am and as many at 9.40 am. Five more aircraft are slotted to depart between 9.45 am and 9.50 am. Apart from these, there are arriving flights too. Similarly, at night, 73 flights land at the city airport between 9 and 11. The figure is up and above the 10-odd more flights which are also slotted for departure.
According to the rules, 32 flight movements (including arrivals and departures) per hour are permitted by the DGCA. "However, five flights cannot take off at the same time at 9.30 am. Hence, they are cleared one after the other. As a result, only the first plane that leaves the airport manages to stick to the time allotted. The rest slotted after it suffer as their schedules invariably go for a toss. The cascading effect continues till noon,'' said a senior airport official.
13/04/11 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India
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