'Congestion down, problems remain'

Airlines are divided over the civil aviation ministry's claim that its recent steps have reduced congestion in metro airports.

While budget airlines like SpiceJet and Air Deccan say the airborne waiting time has come down by up to half, others like Kingfisher say there has been no change.

"The hovering period for flights has come down to less than half. A flight that had to wait for 30 minutes at Delhi and Mumbai airports has to wait for ten minutes now," said GS Dhillon, executive vice-president, flight operations, SpiceJet.

Air Deccan, the country's largest low-cost carrier, agrees. "It is a fact that air traffic congestion at Delhi and Mumbai airports has considerably eased. One could say the waiting time for landing has come down from 30-40 minutes to 10-15 minutes. The measures adopted to reduce congestion are definitely good for the short-term," said a spokesperson of the company.

The promoter of Kingfisher Airlines Vijay Mallya, however, sees no change. "There is hardly any improvement in congestion. I had to wait for 30 minutes just to take off from Mumbai today. I see no change," he said.

Many airlines say they are not being given priority over chartered carriers, which is adding to the congestion problem. "Our flights are often delayed due to chartered flights,which are given slots during peak hours. No non-scheduled aircraft should be allowed to fly during peak hours, but the government has not tackled this issue at all,"said an executive of a leading airline company.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had recently taken a number of steps to reduce congestion during peak hours. The maximum number of flights during peak hours has been capped at 35 per hour in Delhi Airport and 30 per hour in Mumbai Airport. Also, in the case of Delhi Airport, the period when both the runways are open has been extended by one hour.

Airline companies have been facing huge losses due to congestion as long waits for landing consumes a lot of fuel. "Earlier, the total extra flying period of all aircraft of SpiceJet combined would came to 12 hours a day. Considering that this is roughly the amount of time that one aircraft flies during the day, the total fuel cost came close to flying an extra aircraft without passengers," says Dhillon.

Most airlines, however, agree that there is still a long way to go. Delays in takeoffs and getting parking slots continue. "The parking bays, which include the pull-back and the push-forward bays, in Delhi Airport have been recently redesignated but this has only led to more delays on the ground," says Dhillon.

According to him, the aircraft are positioned such that the pushback time for one aircraft takes much more time now.

Industry experts say there could be many reasons for the delay and rescheduling of flights is not the only answer. The aircraft are usually slotted for landing and take-off. Once they miss out a take-off slot due to a slight delay in the parking bay, aircraft are pushed behind others in the line.