Dining on tarmac: Rs 1.20 crore fine on IndiGo, Rs 60 lakh penalty on MIAL

New Delhi, January 17

Aviation security regulator BCAS on Wednesday slapped fines totalling Rs 1.80 crore on IndiGo and Mumbai airport operator MIAL over the incident of passengers having food on the airport tarmac.

A penalty of Rs 1.20 crore has been imposed on IndiGo while the fine on MIAL is Rs 60 lakh, according to orders issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).

Flyer stuck in loo, to get full refund

• In a mid-air incident on Tuesday, a SpiceJet passenger was stuck inside an aircraft lavatory for an hour due to malfunctioning of the door lock
• The incident occurred onboard the flight from Mumbai to Bengaluru, and the airline is providing a full refund to the passenger, according to a SpiceJet spokesperson

Many passengers rushed out of an IndiGo aircraft at the Mumbai airport, sat on the tarmac, and some were also seen having food there as soon as their diverted Goa-Delhi flight landed after a long delay on Sunday. The regulator had issued show cause notices to IndiGo and MIAL saying that they were not proactive in anticipating the situation and making the appropriate facilitation arrangements for passengers at the airport.

Besides, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh on MIAL (Mumbai International Airport Ltd) over the incident.

Meanwhile, DGCA has slapped a fine of Rs 30 lakh each on Air India and SpiceJet for lapses in rostering of pilots for operating flights in low visibility conditions.