IGIA prepared to handle flight operations during dense fog

NEW DELHI: The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), along with other major stakeholders, on Tuesday discussed the challenges of dealing with fog and low visibility conditions.

The representatives from DIAL, Air traffic Control (ATC) and the Meteorological Department stated that even though technological advancements have been made to deal with low visibility conditions, there were many existing challenges that had to be overcome.

The representatives highlighted working on the technological aspects like increasing the capacity for airline carriers and enhancing lighting systems on the runway. Besides the work on technological aspects, the representatives also mentioned of their work in improvement of the communication systems.

DIAL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Prabhakar Rao said: “Due to the technological advancement, we have been able to make sure that Delhi airport is capable of handling flight arrivals with the run way visibility range of up to 50 meters.

“The Delhi airport today has the highest number of Runway Visual Range (RVR) devices at 18. We, however, face the challenge of the departure of the flights. There has to be a visibility level of 125 meters.”

In adding that DIAL was working towards improvement of communication systems, Rao added: “We are working towards devising a plan that will ensure smooth flow of flight information on an almost real times basis to the passengers.” Speaking on the arrangements done by the ATC to deal with low visibility conditions, A K Bharadwaj said: “A major challenge faced by the ATC is effective sequencing of the airline carriers after the conditions improve. We have formulated the Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) process to effectively manage disruptions due to fog. According to us, the CDM will lead to optimal utilisation of the airport capacity and fuel saving for the airline.”