Delhi airport gears up to tackle fog for ideal flight operations

NEW DELHI: The Delhi airport, along with stake- holders like airlines, air traffic control and the weather department, has taken a slew of measures for seamless flight operations during foggy conditions, the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said.

A new GPS-based navigation system for airside vehicles has been introduced for all the four passenger terminals – T3, T2, T1D and T1C – of the airport to enhance operational efficiency, DIAL, a joint venture company which runs the airport, said.

"This year, the spell of foggy condition is expected to start after December 17," R K Jenamani Director-in-charge of the meteorological department at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) said on Thursday.

He was speaking at a media briefing called by DIAL on its preparedness for foggy spells.

"At operational level, it (dealing with fog effectively) talks volumes of our capabilities of operational readiness, emergency preparedness and crises response," DIAL's chief executive officer I Prabhakara Rao said.

According to him, the newly-introduced GPS-based navigational system will help in effective guidance of aircraft during dense fog.

The airport operator said besides ensuring availability of flight information display system, it would display weather-related information at Master Antenna Televisions at the terminals and provide regular updates to passengers and visitors on expected departure and arrival time of flights during fog.

Along with this, two additional help desks have been set up at the terminals' entrances, where information on cancellations and delays will be provided, it said.

"Three runways – 28, 29 and 11 – at the IGI Airport are certified for CAT III B operations, which would allow landing of the compliant aircraft with visibility as low as 50 metres," Rao said.

"Low Visibility Procedures (LVP) for handling ATC during fog have been promulgated for all the ATCs at IGI Airport," Delhi ATC General Manager A K Bharadwaj said.