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selecta · Member Joined: 24 Dec 2006 Posts: 813 Location: ORD

No. India can look forward to brighter times

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
MONDAY, JANUARY 08, 2007 12:47:18 AM
source

Arun Arora
Associate V-P
DIAL*

The fog surely inconveniences air travellers. The geography of the capital city and weather in and around the region results in fog being an annual feature. Fog-induced poor visibility results in delays, diversion and cancellation of flights during the winter. This is an international phenomenon — passengers across the world face similar problems.

But do we just get used to it — or can we work towards a solution that minimises delays, diversion, cancellation? Passengers’ comfort is the outcome of combined effort by all agencies involved in serving air travellers — the airport operator, airlines, security, customers, immigration, ATC, Met department, travel agents and other associates.

Delhi airport is fortunate to have a Cat III B-compliant runway. That allows flights to land at as low a runway visibility as 50 metres. Many airlines already have aircraft equipped with Cat III-B compliant equipment and trained pilots. Many others are training their pilots for the same.

Various stakeholders met — in anticipation of aviation-hampering fog — to look at solutions to minimise passenger discomfort. Prompted by the DGCA, all the above-mentioned agencies volunteered additional manpower and enhanced cooperation to achieve this goal.

Taking forward various initiatives by the Airports Authority of India, Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL) is working on improving infrastructure. Addition of taxiways, enhancing seating arrangements on ground, setting up of temporary lounges, free park-and-ride facility at Delhi Airport, arrangements for food inside and outside the terminal to cater to an overflowing crowd, and additional trolleys were some of the key measures taken for the benefit and comfort of passengers.

That apart, a new domestic terminal, upgradation of existing terminals, a new Cat III B-compliant code F runway that is capable of hosting wide-bodied aircraft like A380 will be ready in 2008. Also, as airlines add more aircraft and pilots trained to use Cat III B facilities to operate during low visibility, we can look forward to brighter times and minimal delays.

Fog is natural phenomenon and nothing can be done about it. But airports and airlines have to prepare themselves better to operate amid poor visibility. The pressure on them will continue to increase with society moving from leisure travel to business travel. In case of Delhi, there is a mismatch of preparedness between different stakeholders. Airports Authority of India has the required equipment to fight fog. But the other players should also prepare themselves to make the best use of such equipment.

When we look at the situation today, Delhi is the only airport in the country which has CAT III B instrument landing system. This enables landing with a visibility of only 50 metres. However, no airport, other than Mumbai, is provided with even CAT II landing system. Mumbai currently operates under CAT I facilities. In such a situation, it’s not commercially viable for the domestic airlines to prepare their aircraft and pilots for a single airport.

However, this situation may not remain relevant for long as commerce is becoming more important in this country and it demands that flights become more regular. To meet such contingencies, the AAI is equipping many airports in the northern belt with CAT II instrument landing system. Therefore, in the emerging scenario there will be many airports equipped with either CAT II or III facilities. These will make operations of aircraft more commercially viable. Pilots will also get more opportunity to use their skills. Airports at Kolkata, Lucknow, Jaipur, Amritsar, and Jammu are being upgraded to CAT II levels.

Also, under the law there is no compulsion on a pilot to land if he or she is not confident to operate in poor visibility. Their operational manual allows them diversions to airports having better visibility. In civil aviation, all pilots are trained to ensure that passenger safety is given paramount importance. However, airlines must also learn to manage passenger expectations, especially when they are flying with a low-cost carrier. The problem in such cases are compounded by the fact that the LCA model does not allow the airline to offer hotel or other amenities in case of fog-related delays or cancellations.
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