New Delhi: On Friday, 30 flights to and from the Jammu airport were cancelled, stranding as many as 2,500 passengers. This followed an alert received by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) this week that the runway at the airport wasn't sturdy enough to carry heavy loads. The DGCA advised airlines to operate with significantly less overall load, following which all private airlines decided to cancel their flights on Friday.
The alert was withdrawn on Friday evening.
The Indian Air Force (IAF), which maintains the runway at the Jammu airport, had detected the issue on October 7.
DGCA chief M Sathiyavathy told Business Standard, "We got the information only on Wednesday. Therefore, the airlines were informed accordingly." Asked whether the IAF had given an explanation for the delayed alert, she said, "We got the information from some other source."
Government sources said after conducting a survey, the IAF had found the load-bearing capacity of the runway at the Jammu airport had decreased significantly. Subsequently, it reduced the pavement classification, meaning the runway would be able to handle a lower aircraft load.
D K Gautam, the Airports Authority of India (AAI)'s director at the Jammu airport, said, "We came to know about the issue only on Friday morning. We should have been informed earlier."
24/10/15 Somesh Jha/Business Standard
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The alert was withdrawn on Friday evening.
The Indian Air Force (IAF), which maintains the runway at the Jammu airport, had detected the issue on October 7.
DGCA chief M Sathiyavathy told Business Standard, "We got the information only on Wednesday. Therefore, the airlines were informed accordingly." Asked whether the IAF had given an explanation for the delayed alert, she said, "We got the information from some other source."
Government sources said after conducting a survey, the IAF had found the load-bearing capacity of the runway at the Jammu airport had decreased significantly. Subsequently, it reduced the pavement classification, meaning the runway would be able to handle a lower aircraft load.
D K Gautam, the Airports Authority of India (AAI)'s director at the Jammu airport, said, "We came to know about the issue only on Friday morning. We should have been informed earlier."
24/10/15 Somesh Jha/Business Standard
