New Delhi: Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it imposed a fine of Rs 70 lakh on Air Vistara for not operating minimum number of mandated flights to underserved areas of country’s northeast.
As per DGCA the fine was imposed in October 2022 for not complying with rules.
“The airline paid the fine this month,” an official said.
According to officials, Vistara was unable to conduct one flight out of Bagdogra, and as a result, a record-breaking fine was placed on the airline.
Srinagar-Jammu-Srinagar, Bagdogra-Dibrugarh-Bagdogra, and Dibrugarh-Guwahati-Dibrugarh are the CAT IIA routes that Vistara offers using RDGs.
The available seat kilometres (ASKM) for Vistara for April 2022 were found to be 0.99%, which is less than the 1% threshold set by the civil aviation ministry for northeastern routes.
“We have been consistently deploying more than the requisite ASKMs in the various categories, as prescribed in the RDG rule. For April 2022 also, we were poised to deploy significantly more than the minimum required ASKM per category, which would have resulted in 1.22% flights on CAT IIA routes against the requirement of 1%,” the airline said.
The matter was highlighted in October last year, after which the airline had submitted a reply, a second official said.
