Now, Akasa gets ‘warning letter’ from DGCA after ‘lapses’ in the carriage of dangerous goods

NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a “warning letter” to Akasa over lapses in carriage of dangerous goods. During the annual surveillance inspection of Akasa at Ahmedabad on Dec 12, 2024, the regulator found “significant non-compliances”. According to the warning letter, these include: “Electronic devices containing lithium batteries were being accepted without checking or verification of battery power; acceptance of shipments of lithium batteries having weight more than the permissible limits for carriage in passenger aircraft; and appropriate details & contact of shipper (were) not found recorded.”
Comments have been sought from Akasa on the latest regulatory action and are awaited. Following the findings, Akasa submitted an action taken report to the DGCA on Dec 20 & 23, “with admittance of violations/lapses.” Akasa has “taken corrective actions by issuing circulars to trade partners (cargo agents) and staff to reiterate compliance with regulation and issuing caution letters to the cargo acceptance staff,” the regulator says in its letter.
With the airline having acted, the DGCA has “warned to be more vigilant with respect to the compliances of applicable regulatory provisions for carriage of dangerous goods by air so that such lapses/violations don’t occur in future and to submit the report to DGCA after carrying out internal audits at all cargo acceptance and handling facilities in respect of the compliances of regulations within 30 days of the receipt of warning letter.”
This is the latest in a series of action taken by the regulator after finding lapses in Akasa. Last month, it had suspended the director training and director operations of Akasa for six months each and “advised” the airline to nominate “suitable candidate(s)”, meaning find replacements for these crucial positions. The DGCA order then had pointed out that the two officials had “failed to train personnel adequately (and that) repeated lapses/violations have been found pertaining to training.”