New Delhi: Amid escalations of tensions in the Middle East, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Sunday granted temporary relaxations in flight duty norms for long-haul flights operated by Air India. The airline is forced to take long routes because of the airspace restrictions in West Asia since the conflicts started.
Notably, due to the airspace restrictions over several countries like Iraq and Iran, Air India has changed several routes of its flights going to Europe and North American flights through Egypt, which have led to longer flying hours.
DGCA announces certain relaxations
Because of this, the DGCA has announced certain relaxations in pilot Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms until April 30, news agency PTI quoted sources as saying. However, DGCA and Air India are yet to comment on the issue. Meanwhile, the DGCA and Air India are yet to comment on the issue.
According to the report, the DGCA has extended the Flight Time (FT) by 1.30 hours to 11.30 hours. Similarly, the Flight Duty Period (FDP) has been extended by 1.45 hours to 11.45 hours. The airline has reportedly exceeded the relaxation while planning its flight operations for Jeddah.
“While flight duty period (FDP) has been extended by 1.45 hours, Air India is forcing its pilots to operate Jeddah flight, which has an FDP of 11.55 hours, thus exceeding the allowed relaxations by 10-minutes,” the agency quoted a source as saying further.
Air India Express cancels planned flights connecting Abu Dhabi
Meanwhile, the Air India Express has cancelled its planned flights connecting Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah after the directions from UAE airport authorities. The airline will, however, operate one round trip on the Delhi-Dubai sector, to and from Dubai.
