Port Blair, Jan 18: The ministry of civil aviation has banned Indigo and GoAir from flying Airbus A320neo aircraft having Pratt and Whiney engines to Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ capital Port Blair. The aircrafts had suffered a technical glitch in the P&W engine earlier.
As per a report published by Hindustan Times, the decision came following a meeting of the ministry held under the chairmanship of minister of state of civil aviation Jayant Sinha on January 8 which reviewed the matter.
A statement by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said Interglobe Aviation, which runs Indigo, and Go Air have been directed to identify and fix the glitches.
The statement also said that the two airlines were restricted from flying A320 Neo aircraft to Port Blair.
It required the two airlines to inspect and carry out awareness creation procedures in case of smoke or odour issues in the cabin or cockpit besides logging of issues for further investigation.
Andaman Sheekha correspondent adds: The Port Blair airport already has many limitations and many believe it is not 100 % prepared to accommodate aircrafts with engine failure as the approach is from only one side.
The Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Admiral (Retd.) D K Singh, on 14 November 2018, during a press conference had said on the record that Port Blair Airport, which is 3KM plus, meets all requirements of what, an airport should not have. Situated in a bowl, it has hill features in three sides.
“The runway of Port Blair Airport, which is a little curved, has Joggers’ Park Hill feature at one side which limits landing and takeoff operations from only one direction, which is a flight safety hazard,” the LG had said.
Considering the safety and carrying capacity aspects, presently Andaman and Nicobar Islands are planning to have a new green field airport in some safe locations of South Andaman for which three sites have been proposed to the Ministry by the local Administration.
