7-Day Refund, War Room: Aviation Ministry Proactive Measures After Delhi Airport Canopy Collapse Incident
The Minister guaranteed a refund within seven days or alternate flights for those whose flights were canceled.
New Delhi: As the canopy collapse in Terminal 1 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi killed one person and left eight others injured, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu on Saturday said that a war room has been constituted to ensure refunds or alternate flights for affected passengers in the incident. The Minister assured to take necessary proactive measures to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
Expressing his condolences on the loss of life in the canopy collapse incident at Delhi Airport Terminal 1, the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said, “The incident that happened at the Delhi airport is very tragic and I offer my condolences to the one individual who lost his life. Some people were injured also in the incident, they have been taken to the hospital and their treatment is underway.” He further said that the situation has been taken under control.
While speaking to the news agency ANI, the Union Civil Aviation Minister said, “We have taken control of the situation and as soon as the incident was reported, all the emergency response teams including teams of NDRF and CISF immediately went to the spot and engaged in the relief operations to prevent any further damage.”
The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), managed by a consortium led by GMR Group under DIAL, comprises three terminals: T1, T2, and T3. It manages approximately 1,400 flight movements every day. The closure of Terminal 1 (T1), which manages domestic services for IndiGo and SpiceJet at Delhi airport, led to over 100 flight cancellations, causing significant disruption to passengers’ travel plans.
#WATCH | Delhi: On the canopy collapse incident at Delhi airport T-1, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu says, ” Incident that happened at the Delhi airport is very tragic…we have taken control of the situation. Terminal-1 is completely closed…all the… pic.twitter.com/NztdITb8uP
— ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2024
7-Days Refund, War Room, Helpline Numbers Issued: Civil Aviation Ministry Proactive Measures After Delhi Airport Canopy Collapse Incident
The Minister guaranteed a refund within seven days or alternate flights for those whose flights were canceled. Citing the necessary proactive measures taken by the Civil Aviation Ministry, Naidu said, “For now, Terminal-1 is completely closed and evacuated. All the flight movements have been shifted to Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. For those people whose flights have been canceled, they are being given either a refund or an alternate flight. The Civil Aviation Ministry has decided to pass a circular to provide refunds to the people within seven days.”
A 24/7 War Room will be established under the close monitoring of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. This War Room will ensure the full refund of cancelled flights or provide alternative travel route tickets as per availability. “To ensure this happens, we have set up war rooms at Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. The Ministry has released a statement regarding this which has all the numbers. We are taking care of it and have placed one of the officers in the war rooms,” he said.
Contact details including phone numbers will be provided to passengers for immediate assistance.
War Room helpline numbers:
Indigo airline
- T2 Terminal: 7428748308
- T3 Terminal: 7428748310
Spicejet
- T3 Terminal: 0124-4983410/0124-7101600
- 9711209864 (Mr Rohit)
An advisory has been released to all airlines to ensure that this situation does not lead to a steep increase in airfare. As per the press release issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been directed to issue a circular to all minor and major airports to conduct a thorough inspection of structural strength. These inspections must be completed within the next 2-5 days, and the reports are to be submitted to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Delhi Airport Canopy Collapse Incident: Compensation of Rs 20 lakh to the family of the deceased
Following the incident, all flight operations from Terminal 1 have been suspended till further notice and rescheduled by the respective Airlines to operate from Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, till the impacted areas are restored for operations. Further, Delhi Airport extended all support to the impacted individuals and the family of the deceased and announced a compensation of Rs 20 lakh to the family of the deceased, and Rs 3 lakh each to those who received minor injuries.
The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said that a technical committee has been formed to investigate the cause of the incident. In a statement on Friday, the DIAL said the technical committee will give the report as soon as possible.
Terminal 1 Incident pic.twitter.com/Dv9Sir5l4p
— Delhi Airport (@DelhiAirport) June 28, 2024
“Due to heavy rains and winds through the night in Delhi, a canopy at the old departure forecourt of Terminal 1 (T1) partially collapsed around 5 am this morning.While the cause for the collapse is being assessed, the primary cause seems to be the continued heavy rainfall over the past few hours,” the statement said. Structural Engineers from IIT Delhi have been asked to immediately assess the incident at Delhi T1. Further examination will be decided based on their initial findings.
(With ANI Inputs)
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