The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday allowed additional ‘duly-qualified’ senior officers of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to take up refuelling jobs at the airport. Territorial Army personnel were already working to facilitate refuelling services.

The DGCA has also set up a control room at its headquarters to monitor the situation at airports across the country. “More flights got delayed by over 40 minutes in the evening hours, as with the increase in air traffic, the rush for refuelling increases,” a DIAL official said. Flights of national carrier Air India were again the ones that suffered major delays today. “Air India flight CD7608 from Surat was delayed by four hours, IC408 from Patna was delayed by three hours, IC849 to Pune was delayed by over two hours and CD7619 to Vadodara was delayed by three hours,” an airport official said.