The hefty fines were imposed as delayed passengers were left stranded for more than 12 hours, as airlines battled fog conditions at Delhi airport, resulting in a mad rush and multiple delayed flights.
IndiGo flight 6E2195 landed at Mumbai airport at 11.21pm on Sunday due to diversion.
A video surfaced showing an incident of IndiGo passengers rushing out at the Mumbai airport, sitting on the tarmac and having food as their flight to Goa from Delhi was diverted to the financial capital.
The airline allowed the passengers to disembark from the flight on to the tarmac and then proceed to flight 6E2091 from an allocated boarding gate at walking distance, which is when many decided to sit on the tarmac itself.
Passengers were not able to avail basic facilities like rest rooms and refreshments at the terminal, a PTI report said, explaining why the tired passengers sat on the tarmac and started eating.
The ministry issued show cause notices to IndiGo and Mumbai Airport saying that they were not proactive in preventing the ‘security threat’ from so many passengers camping on a restricted area.
IndiGo earlier said it already initiated an internal inquiry into the incident.
‘IndiGo has already initiated an internal inquiry to address the issue and will be responding to the notice as per protocol,’ it said in a statement.
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