The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Saturday announced that airport operations across the country have returned to normal and passengers are being provided with all necessary facilities.
This comes amid a severe crew shortage that has led to major disruptions to IndiGo operations. The airline canceled hundreds of flights, including 1,600 on Friday and more than 800 on Saturday, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at airports across the country.
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IndiGo operates 2,300 flights across the country per day.
“Normal conditions have been restored at airports across the country and all necessary facilities are being provided to passengers. Check-in and check-out are going smoothly,” the ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said it has arranged space for 25 grounded IndiGo aircraft at its airport.
In a statement, MIAL added that it has put in place several measures to help passengers stranded at the terminal due to flight cancellations and other operational disruptions.
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These measures have been put in place to enhance passenger comfort, provide clear information and ensure smooth logistics management under these challenging circumstances, MIAL said.
According to MIAL, additional chairs have been placed at multiple locations in both terminals (T1 and T2) to ensure passengers have enough seats while waiting, while stranded passengers are being served free refreshments to ease their wait.
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In addition, additional service terminal managers and customer service executives have been deployed at both terminals to facilitate passenger movement and meet their needs, MIAL said.
It also said that airport concessionaires/vendors have been instructed to maintain sufficient food and beverage stocks for the comfort of passengers. The airport also actively monitors product pricing to ensure fairness.
Special gates have been set up to expedite the departure process of passengers affected by the flight cancellation, the private airport operator said, adding that airport terminal operations, airline representatives and CISF personnel are stationed at these gates to speed up the process, PTI reported.
In addition, the terminal assistance service is manned around the clock and offers clear and timely information to passengers who need support, the company said.
The airport has set up a dedicated task force comprising terminal operations (T1 and T2), airport baggage operations, MIAL security, CISF and IndiGo airline personnel to focus on collecting checked baggage from canceled flights and ensure speedy processing to reduce inconvenience to passengers, the private airport operator said.
It also said operational issues such as stall availability and scheduling management had arisen due to the uncertainty of flight connections, frequent rescheduling and limited information.
However, the airport team is actively working to get clearer updates and manage airport operations effectively.
MIAL also said that despite space constraints at the Mumbai airport, special parking arrangements have been made to accommodate about 25 grounded IndiGo aircraft, while the airport has deployed additional traffic marshals to ensure smooth movement of passengers in the multi-level parking and exiting the terminals.
