CHENNAI: Despite modern air traffic control procedures, pilots are forced to hover over the city waiting for clearance to land at the airport. Forced to circle one above the other for up to 15 minutes during peak hours, each plane burns up to 600kg of fuel in the process.
Earlier, air traffic controllers asked pilots to hover or be on hold when there was smog. But it’s done on most days during peak hours now. Ground delays due to inadequate number of taxiways, parking bays and back-to-back schedules given out to flights are blamed for such delays. More than 30 planes approach the airport for landing during peak hours.
Planes put on hold are told to fly over four points near Chennai — over Tirupati, over the Bay of Bengal parallel to Tirupati, over Sriperumbudur and over Puducherry — so they can come in to land when runways and taxiways are clear.
“We burn around 600kg of jetfuel hovering over the city during peak hours because of air traffic congestion. Airlines tell us to carry extra fuel needed for hovering while flying to Chennai.
