As many as 22,615 passengers were affected due to the closure of Delhi Airport Terminal 1 (T1) following the roof collapse on Friday, the civil aviation ministry said in a statement on Monday. The statement added that 9,972 passengers booked on IndiGo (9,431) and SpiceJet (541) flights have been refunded. The refund of 196 passengers remained pending.
Flights were cancelled following the T1 closure on Friday even as there were no cancellations over the weekend as the operations were shifted to the airport’s Terminal 2 (T2) and 3 (T3).
Civil aviation minister Rammohan Naidu inspected the Airport Operations Control Centre and met with the officials of his ministry, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), and airline operators to review operations and passenger handling following the transition of flights from T1 to T2 and T3.
“A comprehensive assessment was conducted, involving detailed discussions on ensuring smooth functioning and deploying additional manpower to manage increased passenger flow,” the aviation ministry said in the statement.
The statement added the DGCA held a briefing on the activation of war rooms, facilitating close coordination between DIAL and the airlines. “…Naidu advised all stakeholders to maintain rigorous standards to ensure seamless operations and prioritise passenger safety.”
Flight operations from T1 were indefinitely suspended on Friday after the roof collapse amid heavy rains and winds left one person dead and eight injured.
DIAL, which said the primary cause of the collapse seemed to be the heavy rainfall, on Friday formed a technical committee to investigate the incident and announced a compensation of ₹20 lakh to the family of the person killed and ₹3 lakh each to those injured.
