Mumbai: The union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu interacted with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) teams of Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Nagpur to appreciate their exemplary work during the recent airspace tensions between India and Pakistan.
The Free Press Journal was the first to report that the closure of Pakistan’s airspace for Indian aircraft, post the Pahalgam terrorist attack, has increased airspace congestion above Gujarat and Maharashtra. This increased load of around 120 flights daily had to be handled by the Mumbai ATC, which deployed additional staff including radar controllers to manage the increased air traffic.
As tension between both nations escalated resulting to Pakistan closing its airspace for all commercial flights, Mumbai ATC saw a huge jump in additional flights flying from its range daily, figures reaching as high as 450. With the de-escalation of military advances by both countries, as civil aviation is also returning to normalcy, praises have been flowing in for Mumbai ATC’s exceptional work in handling the diverted air traffic and keeping the aircrafts flying.
On Wednesday, the union minister of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) Ram Mohan Naidu interacted with the ATC teams of Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Nagpur to appreciate their exemplary handling of additional air traffic congestion.
Union minister Naidu said that with traffic from the northern and north-western regions being diverted, these ATCs swiftly managed rerouting with precision and professionalism, ensuring safe and seamless skies for lakhs of passengers.
MoCA’s secretary Samir Sinha, Airports Authority of India’s chairman Vipin Kumar and Director General of Civil Aviation Faiz Ahmed Kidwai also joined virtually from Delhi headquarters and applauded the teams for their tireless efforts in navigating this challenging phase with confidence and control.
