24 more airports by the end of this year will be equiped with global navigation satellite system (GNSS), whose approach procedures enable flights to land at airports despite poor visibility due to heavy rain or fog.
21 Indian airports have been equipped with GNSS over the past 8 months.
In the next phase the Belagavi airport will also be equipped with the GNSS.
Installing GNSS is part of a global plan by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to make landings more efficient during adverse weather.
The approach procedure, known as Required Navigation Performance (RNP), will help Indian airports without an Instrument Landing System (ILS, a system that allows pilots to land at an airport when there is low visibility) and those where ILS is dysfunctional because of weather conditions like floods.
In Maharashtra, Mumbai, Shirdi, Aurangabad and Kolhapur airports are equipped with this technology. Other Indian airports include Kozhikode, Jabalpur, Indore, Begumpet (Hyderabad), Kolkata, Hubli, Jaipur, Khajuraho, Kannur, Belagavi and Varanasi.
RNP procedures are expected to not only reduce delay in arrivals due to poor weather conditions but also increase the accessibility of airports as fewer flights are expected to be diverted.
Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/