Low-cost carriers better prepared to handle fog

There is less cause for worry on being delayed by fog in flying this winter with low-cost carriers (LCCs).

These carriers are definitely better prepared in this regard now. In the case of SpiceJet, IndiGo and GoAir, all their aircraft are CAT-III compliant, meaning they can take off and land in those low-visibility conditions.

Till last year, Air India was best placed in this regard. But, the LCCs have since almost doubled their number of CAT-III compliant aircraft.

Among them, SpiceJet, which had no CAT-III compliant aircraft last year, has made its entire fleet of 19 Boeing aircraft compatible for landing under CAT- III. IndiGo and GoAir increased it from 19 to all 22 and five to all eight, respectively.

Among the LCCs, JetLite, a subsidiary of Jet Airways, is the worst, with only seven of its 24 aircraft being CAT-III compatible. Still, last year none of its aircraft were.

Among the full-service carriers (FSCs), National Aviation Company Ltd or Nacil, which runs Air India, is best prepared to fly in fog. It has increased the number of CAT-III complaint aircraft from 67 last year to 75 this year, converting all its Airbus fleet under domestic operations and short-haul international operations.

Among the other two FSCs, Jet Airways, with a fleet of 66 aircraft, has increased their CAT-III compatible aircraft from 36 to 40 and Kingfisher’s CAT-III compatible fleet remains at 35 of the 64 aircraft it has.

The total number of CAT-III trained pilots in the country are 1,323 and one-time training for this costs Rs 10 lakh, with recurrent re-training costs.

There are three kinds of CAT landing systems — I, II and III. CAT-I allows aircraft to land in visibility up to 550 metres. The majority of airports in the country have this. CAT-II allows craft to land in visibility of up to 350 metres.

CAT-III allows aircraft to land in visibility from zero to 200 metres. There are three variants of this system — Alpha, Bravo and Charlie. In Alpha, an aircraft can land in visibility up to 200 metres and in Bravo, in visibility of up to 50 metres.

CAT III (Bravo) is the system in place at Delhi airport. Other major airports in the country have CAT-I, as they do not have this sort of winter fog. The third CAT-III system is Charlie, in which an aircraft can land in zero visibility.