Delhi Airport gears up to tackle fog in winters

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.

Foggy conditions in Delhi prevails generally from mid- December till mid-February.

"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 today.

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.

Re-commissioning of Terminal 2, from where budget carrier GoAir is carrying out its operations, will serve as a big help for Terminal 1, he said.

The facilities available at T3, T2 and T1D for foggy conditions are aimed at providing the passengers with timely information and offer them all possible amenities, the company 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.

"In addition, an enhanced version for collaborative decision-making during fog has been put in place with the active involvement of all the stakeholders, including airlines and airport operator, DIAL," he said.

These measures improve predictability of flight operations and hence help the passengers during fog, Bharadwaj said.