Come next winter, city airport to cross fog hurdle

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 28

Come next winter, flight operations at the Chandigarh airport will not get affected by dense fog and inclement weather as the Civil Aviation Ministry has announced to install the CAT-III equipment at the airport.

In an announcement made on Wednesday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation shortlisted the Chandigarh airport among 13 airports in India, which will be equipped with the CAT-III equipment for smooth operations even in dense fog.

At present, the airport is not equipped with any such instrument and the visibility is judged manually by the airport authorities. The demand for upgrading the ILS (Instrument Landing System) with the CAT-II or CAT–III equipment was pending since 2001.

The CAT-III equipment provides a runway visual range of about 700 metres under poor visibility conditions. The announcement has brought cheer for domestic airlines and will also be beneficial once international flights start from here. The first international flight is expected to start in April. The Chandigarh airport is expanding towards Mohali with a new international terminal.

“We have demanded a CAT-II ILS equipment as the airport will soon host international flights. However, the decision to upgrade to the CAT-III equipment is also welcome. The equipment will help the airlines perform their operations smoothly. This will also encourage local passengers to opt for air travel even during the winter,” said an officer of the Chandigarh airport. The ministry has asked the airlines to train their pilots to use the system. “The decision is welcome. This will increase the air traffic frequency and will also help passengers. We hope the airport gets equipped with this technology soon,” said an official of a domestic airline. The project will cost about Rs 1 crore and is likely to be completed by July 2015.

Adviser visits airport

To review the security arrangements, beautification of the airport, status of international flights and for finding a solution to the traffic congestion, UT Adviser Vijay Kumar Dev visited the airport on Wednesday evening. The Adviser held a meeting with the airport authorities.