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Delays in flight arrivals have reduced significantly at the Mumbai airport following the congestion-induced cancellations that were effective February 15 onwards, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Wednesday.
The ministry had on February 15 directed the Adani Group-run Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), which operates the airport in the financial capital, to cancel a certain percentage of flights as they were facing delays due to congestion in its airspace.
“An analysis conducted by the AAI (Airports Authority of India) pointed to excessive slot allocation (by MIAL) and poor slot adherence (by airlines) as a major contributor to the traffic congestion witnessed,” the ministry said. A slot is a specific time during which a flight can arrive or depart from the airport. The airport operator allots slots to airlines.
Aircraft operating earlier than the approved slot (marked as “before scheduled arrival time” in the table) leads to congestion, and delays other aircraft adhering to the schedule, which in turn has a cascading effect on scheduled movements. “These movements were also targeted for improvements and airlines asked to adhere to the allotted slots,” the ministry said.
About 34.4 per cent of the aircraft landed before their scheduled arrival time in the November 11-December 10 period last year. During February 16-24 this year, only 13 per cent of planes arrived before their scheduled time.
Airlines have cancelled about 200 flights per week to and from the Mumbai airport since February 15.
