The Hindu Business Line : Fog: AI suspends domestic bookings on Delhi-Mumbai sector

REACTING to the fog-related delays of flights at New Delhi, Air India has temporarily suspended bookings for domestic passengers on the Mumbai-Delhi-Mumbai sector.

According to an airline spokesperson, in view of the uncertainty caused by the foggy conditions at the Delhi airport, the airline would not carry any domestic passengers on the Mumbai-Delhi and Delhi-Mumbai sectors.

Bookings for domestic passengers will remain suspended till the third week of January, when the foggy conditions usually lift. The airline would, however, continue to make bookings for international passengers during this period.

According to industry sources, the national carrier may have had to suspend bookings for domestic passengers, as the low fares offered on the domestic legs of international flights would make it unfeasible for the airline to provide hotel bookings to stranded passengers.

He pointed out that this was the peak season for travel and many of the hotels were booked to capacity. Further, room tariffs were also at their highest at this time of the year. The foggy conditions at Delhi airport have drastically reduced visibility for aircraft operations.

Private domestic airlines have been worst affected by the foggy conditions, as many of their pilots are not trained to land in such conditions.

In view of the chaotic scenes witnessed at Delhi airport yet again this year, the Government last month directed all the private airlines to ensure that they had pilots trained to land in foggy conditions. It has also said the airlines would not be allowed to operate out of Delhi from next winter unless they trained their manpower to operate flights in foggy conditions.

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