IGI: First in India to use CDM

The new Collaborative Decision Making system will save cost, improve on-time performance, reduce emissions and enhance decision-making for airport authorities.

The capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) has become the first airport in the country to introduce Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM). The initiative has been jointly taken up by the Air Traffic Control (ATC), the GMR Group-led consortium DIAL and the airlines operating from the airport. The system is named as DA-CDM (Delhi Airport-Collaborative Decision Making). This is a concept focussing on improving air traffic flow and capacity management at airports by reducing delays, improving event predictability and optimising resource utilisation. It involves airport operators, airlines, ground handlers and ATC collaborating and sharing data to increase overall airport efficiency. The DA-CDM system was implemented at IGI Airport on World Environment Day, June 5, 2013. Commenting on the initiative, DIAL CEO I Prabhakara Rao said, “The DA-CDM is a true game-changer in the Indian aviation industry. It will allow us to achieve annual savings of 2,500 tonnes of ATF and 7,850 tonnes of saved CO emission by reducing taxiing time by even a minute per aircraft.”

P K Mishra, Executive Director (ATMASM) added, “The DA-CDM project aims to improve the overall efficiency of an airport. After two years of diligent work, the Delhi ATC has managed to achieve this with the support of DIAL team. The DA-CDM will enable optimum utilisation of ATC resources, resulting in reduced workload of controllers, minimum ground delays and increased level of safety.”