Passengers Eating On Tarmac: Aviation Watchdogs Impose Rs 1.2 Cr Fine On IndiGo, Rs 30 Lakh Penalty On Mumbai Airport

Regulator BCAS slapped a Rs 1.20 crore fine on IndiGo over the incident of passengers having food on the tarmac at Mumbai airport.

New Delhi: DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) on Wednesday imposed a fine of Rs 30 Lakh on Mumbai Airport, whereas, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) slapped a Rs 1.20 crore fine on IndiGo Airlines in connection with the video of passengers sitting eating on the tarmac at the airport, which went viral on social media.

Regulator BCAS also imposed a Rs 60 lakh penalty on Mumbai airport operator MIAL over the incident of passengers having food on the tarmac.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to IndiGo Airlines and Mumbai Airport after the video went viral.

DGCA said that the reply to the Show Cause Notice was received on Wednesday and was not found satisfactory. The response submitted by MIAL shows that they have failed to adhere to the safety requirements as laid down in the Air Safety Circular 04 of 2007, it stated.

DGCA also slapped Rs 30 lakh fine each on Air India, and SpiceJet for pilot rostering lapses for flight operations in low visibility conditions.

In a viral video, passengers of a Delhi-bound IndiGo flight diverted to Mumbai were seen sitting and eating on the airport tarmac at Mumbai Airport.

Sharing a video post on X, a user wrote, "Passengers of IndiGo Goa-Delhi who after 12-hour delayed flight got diverted to Mumbai having dinner just next to IndiGo plane."

After the video went viral, IndiGo apologised to the customers, saying "We are aware of the incident involving IndiGo flight 6E2195 from Goa to Delhi on January 14, 2024. The flight was diverted to Mumbai due to low visibility conditions in Delhi. We sincerely apologise to our customers and are currently looking into the incident."

Following the video, the Mumbai airport claimed that the airport operators in coordination with CISF QRT cordoned off the passengers into a safety zone as passengers refused to get into the airline coach and proceed to the Terminal Building." The passengers were kept under the strict watch of the airline authorities and security until further actions were taken, it added.