How ATC extended hrs for MLA charter flights
Aditya Anand
MUMBAI: Besides election season, when politicians hire aircraft to crisscross the country quickly, the only other time when air charters are in express demand by the political class is during defections. At least 40 Shiv Sena legislators and other party leaders, as well as smaller party and independent MLAS are currently camping in Guwahati as their leader, Eknath Shinde, has staged a revolt against Sena leadership and the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government.
The saga began on June 21, when Shinde was found to be in Surat, Gujarat, with a group of MLAS. That night itself, they left for Guwahati, Assam, where they are now put up at a five-star hotel.
On Tuesday, the Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) managing aircraft movement at Surat airport extended their watch hours to accommodate a special request which pertained to a chartered aircraft from Spicejet that carried over 30 people including Shiv Sena legislators, Independent MLAS and other party workers.
The Spicejet aircraft — a Boeing 787 Max 8 named Chilli Pepper — arrived in Surat at 8.52 pm and left with the MLAS supporting chief Sena rebel Eknath Shinde at 3.41 am on Wednesday morning for Guwahati. As a result, a special extension of watch timings had to be sought, officials confirmed. Such an extension must be taken four hours prior according Airports Authority of India (AAI) norms while permissions for nonscheduled operations — which this chartered flight was — within normal watch hours, are required to be obtained 24 hours in advance.
It is not clear if that was done in this case.
In Surat, the regular watch hours are from 6.10 am to 10 pm from Mondays to Saturdays, while on Sundays and Wednesdays, the watch timings are till 1.55 am. Besides the 189-seater Spicejet aircraft, two more aircraft — Learjet 45 XR nine-seater and a Hawker 800 XP eightseater — were hired by agents who undertake bookings for private jets. While one of the aircraft flew from Surat to Guwahati on Wednesday, another flew from Bhopal to the Assam city on Thursday.
VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd was among those companies whose nine-seater aircraft (the Learjet 45 XR) was also booked to fly some MLAS including Nitin Deshmukh, who flew to Guwahati
on Wednesday, but returned to Nagpur the same day claiming that he was taken by Shinde against his will. Interestingly, the Maharashtra government is one of the clients of this aircraft charter company. Officials of the Delhi-based air charter company cited client confidentiality when contacted for further details.
“Private chartered jets offer a lot of flexibility to anyone who wants to move at a short notice and discreetly at a time of their convenience. When the stakes are high, chartered aircraft become the ultimate choice as both privacy and secrecy can be maintained,” an agent involved with logistic movements of these MLAS said.
The Spicejet Boeing 787 Max 8, which took Shinde and other MLAS out of Surat, has since operated flights out of India. After flying from Guwahati to Amritsar, the aircraft flew to Kutaisi, a city in West Georgia, and to Rome and then returned to Amritsar. On Friday evening, the aircraft was back in Kutaisi. The favourite charter agents and operators are meanwhile waiting for the MLAS to decide on their return so that another large commercial aircraft can be organised for their journey to Mumbai.
When the stakes are high, chartered aircraft become the ultimate choice as both privacy and secrecy can be maintained