Only Chennai, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) are capable of handling four extra flights on the runway this winter, according to an official report accessed by the Times of India.
The report was the minutes of the meeting between airlines and aviation officials to set the winter schedule for flights this year. Metro city airports will not be able to handle extra flights due to runway congestion.
According to the minutes, the authorities have approved 18,860 weekly domestic flights from 90 airports this winter. This is 9.8 percent higher than what was approved for this summer.
The increase is owing to clearances for regional flights from previously less-accessed small airports.
Also read: India expected to cater to 478 million air passengers by 2036, to be among top 5 nations: IATA
Airlines, however, are unable to operate on all the approved slots due to either grounding large numbers of Airbus A-320 new engine options (NEO) or due to engine troubles which have led to flight cancellations.
Airport operators warned the airlines for not making use of the slots given to them. According to the report accessed by the newsgroup, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has "proposed financial penalty for slot misuse by airlines."
The report says that accommodating the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) are posing many challenges. According to the minutes, Aviation Ministry Joint secretary and RCS in-charge Usha Padhee has "requested all airlines to move some of their flights in red-eye hours (prior to 5 am) to make room for regional connectivity flights during the early morning hours."
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