Flight service at Chandigarh International Airport to stay smooth during fog

Sanjay Bumbroo

Tribune News Service

Mohali, September 25

After the Ministry of Defence made it clear that the installation of advanced CAT-3 ILS was not viable, the Chandigarh International Airport authorities have installed approach lights with a touchdown zone on the runways, which will allow operations during visibility as low as 550 metre instead of the existing 1,200 metre.

No more grounding of flights

Ajay Bhardwaj, CEO, Chandigarh International Airport Limited, said there would be no grounding of flights in the foggy weather as they had installed 180 approach lights with a touchdown zone on the runways. The work is nearing completion and they will make it operational from October 1, Bhardwaj added.

Earlier, pilots faced difficulty while landing at the airport during foggy days in the winter season. The CAT-3 ILS allows flights to operate even at visibility as low as 50 metre.

The work of installing approach lights with a touchdown zone on the runways, an upgrade of the existing CAT-1 ILA (instrument landing system), was carried out by Tata Power Strategic Engineering Division and will become operational from October 1.

Flights operating from the Chandigarh airport remained grounded for about one month from mid-December to mid-January due to the extreme foggy weather.

Ajay Bhardwaj, CEO, Chandigarh International Airport Limited, said there would be no grounding of flights in the foggy weather as they had installed 180 approach lights with a touchdown zone on the runways. The work is nearing completion and they will make it operational from October 1, he added.

Bhardwaj said the new system would allow pilots to land with the help of approach light instruments if they couldn’t establish a visual contact with the runway, especially in foggy conditions when visibility is low.

There had been frequent cancellation of flights in the peak winter due to fog, he added.