Forced to act as Mumbai Airport gave out excess slots: Aviation Ministry
Mumbai airport to reduce flights as it had given excess slots that was causing congestion, leading to a situation where aircraft were hovering over the airport for as long as 60 minutes.
An airport slot is a period of time during which an aircraft can take off or land.
The ministry said the airport operator didn't take steps to streamline and regulate the air traffic movement.
" The government realises that it needs to step in to strike a balance between the needs of both the airport operators and airlines while ensuring that passengers have a fulfilling experience while flying from Mumbai Airport," the ministry said.
The government's reaction comes after passengers criticised the decision to cut flights, saying that such an action will lead to airfares shooting up.
Airlines are preparing to cancel hundreds of flights till March 30 following the directive issued by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The order will force airlines to cut around 40 flights from the middle of this week, ET reported on Tuesday.
The curbs on operation of business jets at the airport has been extended from four hours to eight hours — leading to protests from top corporate houses such as RIL, JSW and Mahindra Group.
Mumbai operates more flights with than any other airport with a single runway, and in December it handled its highest monthly traffic of 4.88 million passengers.
Akasa Air on Tuesday announced it was cancelling two flights daily till the end of next month.
SpiceJet said in a statement that the airline will comply
