Imphal: Imphal Airport in Manipur achieved an important milestone on Thursday after replacing the over 22-year-old Radio Navigational equipment with the new state-of-the-art equipment and commissioning of the facilities.
The facilities were commissioned by the Airport Director Chipemmi Keishing in the presence of Jagadish Bhishya, Joint General Manger (CNS), North East Region, Guwahati, Samananda Singh, RD BCAS Imphal, Mohnish Bagree, DC/CASO, CISF Imphal Airport and other Airport officials.
According to the airport director, Keishing, Instrument Landing System (ILS) provides guidance information to the landing aircraft by radiating the electromagnetic signals modulated with navigation tones so that the suitably equipped aircraft gets Azimuth guidance information (position of Aircraft with respect to Runway (RWY) centre line), Vertical guidance information (Whether aligned to proper glide angle or not) and distance from the touch down point.
As the ILS guidance information is not based on the visible guidance, it helps pilot to land even in poor visibility and low cloud ceiling conditions, he added.
The new commissioned ILS and DVOR/DME will increase accuracy and reliability and increase the availability and serviceability of the facility thus improving the safety of the air navigation and minimising the disruption in the air services at Imphal Airport, said Keishing,
“With the new equipment installed, flights to Imphal airport will again take the route above the Loktak Lake before landing at Imphal airport, which was not possible for almost a year as flights to Imphal took a direct route,” said the airport director.
He also informed that Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Range/ Distance Measuring Equipment (DVOR/DME) provides Azimuth information (Angle information) and distance information so that the over flying or approaching or landing aircraft can get the guidance for fixing his position and following the designated routes.
“When no radio navigation equipment is available, visibility for the landing aircraft is 5000 meters (5 KMs). For DVOR/DME based approach, visibility requirement is brought down to 2400 meters and with ILS approach, visibility is still brought down to 550 meters. With the above information, the importance of these Radio Navigational equipment can be appreciated by air passengers and airlines as they help in increasing the safety of the air navigation and minimize the disruption due to poor weather conditions, minimize the pollution and increases the overall efficiency of flight operations,” said Keishing.
The new equipment was procured by Airports Authority of India, Corporate Headquarters (AAI CHQ) by floating international tender. This equipment complies with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Standards and recommended practices. ILS equipment was supplied by M/s Indra Navia, Norway and DVOR/DME were supplied by M/s MOPIENS, South Korea.
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This state of art equipment was installed in-house by Radio Construction and Development Unit (RCDU) team from New Delhi, and the team of Civil Engineers and Electrical Engineers from Imphal Airport of AAI. Approach procedure for the new facilities was developed by Air Safety Management, at CHQ.
These equipment specification and installation comply with Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (India) Civil Aviation Requirements (DGCA CAR).
Such equipment is operated and maintained by professionally trained Engineers with specialized skills from Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) Department of AAI, he added.
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