Night or rain, flights can land in Port Blair with ILS help
Times of India | 28 April 2024
Kolkata: Holidayers travelling to the Andamans this monsoon will encounter fewer weather-related flight disruptions, either cancellations or flights having to return to the city after being unable to touch down at Port Blair. An instrument landing system (ILS), which allows planes to operate in low visibility, has started functioning at the airport.
Devender Yadav, airport director at Port Blair, said ILS became operational at 5.30 am on April 18 and IndiGo flight 6E 526 from Chennai was the first to use the ILS approach at 6.29 am.Now, 16 flights operate to Port Blair daily, including five from Kolkata. “ILS has made the runway precision-approach and paved the way for civil aircraft operations at night and during low visibility and bad weather conditions with safety. It will reduce flight diversions and enable extension of aircraft operations time window,” said Yadav.
Because of the weather conditions of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, there are significant flight diversions, which had implications on airlines and inconvenienced flyers. Flight diversion cost also contributed to high air fare for the region. It is expected that ILS may lead to a reduction of air fares. The travel trade fraternity said the additional technical capability that would make flights to Port Blair during the monsoon less susceptible to bad weather would help unlock the true potential of tourism in the islands.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been working on the project for the past decade. There were many challenges, such as availability of land, logistics, pandemic and regulatory compliance. “With ILS in place, it paves the way for smoother and safer flight operations during low visibility, at night and in bad weather conditions. Considering the geographical location of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, ILS is a necessity for safe flight operations,” said a flight captain.