IGIA prepares for fog season, low visibility likely from December 17: DIAL

Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which operates the IGI airport here, on Thursday said that it has made "robust arrangements" to minimise flight disruptions due to the upcoming fog season.

According to DIAL, "robust arrangements" have been made to minimise inconvenience during the low visibility period (LVP) which occurs during the two-month long fog season that is likely to commence from December 17.

In 2017, the LVPs are expected to occur in December end and then in January, during the fog season which lasts from December 15 to February 15.

The LVP is characterised by severe to heavy fog conditions when visibility for flight operations is reduced to around 50 meters.

"The 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 meters," said DIAL's CEO I. Prabhakara Rao.

"The re-commissioning of terminal 2 (T2) will serve as a big help for terminal 1 (T1) as it has off-loaded passenger and aircraft traffic at T1. The newly introduced GPS based navigational system for follow-me vehicles will help in effective guidance of the aircraft during dense fog."

Speaking on the operational readiness, A.K. Bhardwaj, General Manager, Air Traffic Management (ATM)-ATC said: "The low visibility procedures for handling air traffic during fog have been promulgated for all the air traffic controllers at IGI airport."

"In addition, an enhanced version for collaborative decision making (CDM) during fog has been put in place with the active involvement of all the stakeholders, including airlines and airport operator, DIAL. These measures improve predictability of flight operations and hence facilitate the travelling passengers during fog."

R.K. Jenamani, meteorological office director of IGIA, said flight disruptions might be caused due to the fog season which is expected to hit the national capital from December 17.

--IANS

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