The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday issues SOPs to airlines regarding flight cancellations due to excessive delays during adverse weather conditions.

The DGCA has issued Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) Section-3, Series M Part IV “Facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights.” 

The airlines are required to publish the reference of the CAR on the flight tickets. It is, accordingly, obligatory on the part of all airlines to mandatorily adhere to the provisions of the above CAR, DGCA said. 

According to DGCA, Airlines shall be required to publish accurate real-time information regarding delays of their flights, which shall be published on the respective website of the airline, through advance information to affected passengers by SMS/ WhatsApp and email, display of updated information regarding flight delays to passengers waiting at the airports and appropriate sensitization of the airline staff at the airports to suitably communicate with and continuously guide & inform the passengers about flight delays. 

Further, the SOPs stated that airlines may cancel, sufficiently in advance, flights that are expected to be delayed beyond 3 hours.

“In view of the prevalent fog season and adverse weather conditions, airlines may cancel, sufficiently in advance, such flights that are anticipated to be delayed or consequentially delayed on account of such conditions beyond a period of 3 hours with a view to obviate congestion at the airport and mitigate passenger inconvenience,” said  DGCA.