Kolkata airport equipped with landing system to fight fog

The Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport has started the implementation of CAT III-B Instrument Landing System (ILS) from Thursday, that will allow flights to operate till the visibility drops below 50 metres.

"NSCBI Airport, Kolkata has become the fifth airport after Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknowand Amritsar to be equipped with CAT III-B ILS. The implementation of ILS CAT III-B will be a big boon for the airports worst affected by fog during winter when the visibility goes as low as 50 metres," a statement said.

Every year during December and January, due to fog, flights operating to and from northern part of India are disrupted. It has been observed that in spite of best efforts from all the stakeholders namely, Airports Authority of India (AAI), airlines and Meteorological department, flights are delayed as a result of unpredictable weather.

To improve the air navigation facilities for the aircrafts and passengers at airports worst affected by fog, the AAI has already commissioned CATIII-B ILS at IGI Airport (runways 28, 29 and 11), Amritsar (runway 34), Lucknow (runway 27) and at Jaipur (runway 27) which is operational.

It facilitates aircraft to land with Runway Visual Range (RVR) of 50 metres with decision height of 15 metres. RVR is the visibility for a particular runway in a particular direction which is provided through an instrument by Indian Meteorological Department.AA

It also means aircraft can land when runway could be seen from a distance of 50 metres and aircraft can come down up to a height of 15 metres above the ground before sighting the runway for landing.

--IANS

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