India aims to ease air space management snarls
Friday, 03 August 2007, 19:30 IST
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New Delhi: India's civil aviation ministry has initiated talks with the defence establishment to ease restrictions on the use of air space to accommodate growing civilian traffic. And it has projected a two-fold increase in the fleet size of carriers over the next five years. With military concerns being a sensitive issue and airspace management a pressing need, talks are on to work out a plan for the flexible use of India's air space, said Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman K. Ramalingam. "We have an active dialogue on with the Indian Air Force (IAF). As a result, Goa has got more flying hours. Also Hindon (an IAF station near Delhi) has allowed us the use of air space," K.N. Srivastava, joint secretary in the civil aviation ministry, told IANS in an interview. The release of air space under IAF is, in fact, among the key suggestions in the draft civil aviation policy and the Vision-2020 document that is being examined by a group of ministers under External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Air traffic in India has increased 46 percent in the first six months of this year over the like period of 2006. As many as 123,000 people travel daily by air in India and put a heavy load on the ground and air infrastructure. AAI, therefore, has had to fast forward its upgrade plans, which include preferred routes implementation, networking of military and civilian radars and consolidation of airspace, Ramalingam said. Also, 70 percent of air space over the Delhi airport, one of the country's busiest, is under military control. As a result, civilian flights have to take circuitous routes, creating safety issues, delays and wastage of fuel, experts said. In fact, the two converging runways in Delhi and Mumbai's cross-runways have not made the job easy. These two airports have, therefore, become the main choke points since they account for over 50 percent of India's air traffic, they added. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have also increased sharply over the past years, posing not just a formidable challenge for surveillance of air space but also altering the military's requirements, according to the experts. "The system should be flexible enough that changes with requirements of military needs," said Fred Pease, executive director of the US Department of Defence Policy Board on Federal Aviation. AAI's recent capacity enhancement initiatives in Delhi and Mumbai air traffic control (ATC) operations include simultaneous, two-runway operations with one reserved for international operations and the other for domestic. Control positions have also been added in the ATC towers, resulting in a significant reduction in delays and congestion, Ramalingam said. Ministry officials said hospitals and top corporate houses have also made pleas to permit helipads on their buildings after permission was given to the Tatas to start helicopter operations at Mumbai's Taj Wellington Mews luxury hotel. The Director General for Civil Aviation conducted trial landings in late-June and AAI may soon announce dedicated helicopter routes, the ministry officials added. The signing of the Aviation Corporation Program (ACP) initiated by the US Trade and Development Agency and the Indian civil aviation ministry will also help in enhancing India's air traffic and air space management. "We have identified areas on performance-based navigation for precise approach, arrival and departure procedure like Required Navigation Performance (RNP) and Area Navigation (RNAV) for which training is being planned," Ramalingam said. RNAV, he explained, enables aircraft to fly on any desired flight path in the coverage area of navigational aids. Therefore, aircraft with RNAV have better access and flexibility for point-to-point operations. The first step in the direction was taken recently when India signed an agreement with the US Mitre Corp. for consultancy on the design of area navigation routes over Mumbai and Delhi. Mitre is offering its model used across the US to design new arrival and departure routes and procedures. The $1.7 million order will include training and technology transfer. This model will improve on-time performance, improve flight predictability and save fuel. Plans are on to soon send Indian air traffic controllers to the US for training.
Source: IANS
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