DIAL approaches High Court against Centre’s decision to allow commercial flights from Hindon Air Force Station

Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) moved the Delhi High Court on Wednesday against the Centre’s decision to allow the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to commence scheduled commercial flight operations at the Indian Air Force station located at Hindon, Ghaziabad. Justice Subramaniam Prasad asked the stand of the Center and AAI on the petition.

The GMR-led consortium and a joint venture of AAI, which manages the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here, argued that the Centre’s decision of October 31, 2023 was arbitrary, unfair, one-sided and commercially unsustainable. .

In its plea, DIAL said a greenfield airport is already being developed at Jewar, which is within 150 km of IGIA, and the Hindon Air Force Station already has the same catchment area to reach those two airports. Permission is being given to be used for commercial operations scheduled for completion. Saturation capacity will severely impact the viability of IGIA and result in underutilization of all three airports.

The petition said that despite huge investment by DIAL for the expansion of IGIA and rapid increase in capacity of that airport, the Center took the decision unilaterally without giving an opportunity of being heard.

In the petition, DIAL said that as per an MOU, it had earlier agreed to use the Hindon Air Force Station for a limited purpose and time for operating certain flights falling under the Regional Air Connectivity Scheme, while the upgradation at IGIA is going on. But now the expansion work is scheduled to be completed around March, but instead of honoring their obligations, the authorities decided to increase the scope of operations at Hindon Air Force Station.

The petition also said that the decision was taken without following due process of law in the context of the Airport Infrastructure Policy and Greenfield Airport Policy, and added that the establishment of another greenfield airport should have been done through a competitive bidding process. The court listed the matter for further hearing in March.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)