Chandigarh airport: Approach lights on runway to ease fog woes

Chandigarh International Airport has installed approach lights with touchdown zone on the runways, which will allow operations at a visibility as low as 550 metres instead of the existing 1,200 metres

In a major relief from grounding of flights due to fog, the Chandigarh International Airport has installed approach lights with touchdown zone on the runways, which will allow operations at a visibility as low as 550 metres instead of the existing 1,200 metres.

For the past few years, flights operating from the Chandigarh airport remain grounded due to fog in peak winters. (HT File Photo)

An upgrade to the existing CAT-1 instrument landing system (ILS), it will become operational from October 1. It was carried out by Tata Power Strategic Engineering Division, after the defence ministry reportedly said that the installation of the advanced CAT-3 ILS was not viable. The CAT-3 ILS allows flights to operate even at a visibility of 50 metres.

For the past few years, flights operating from the airport remain grounded from mid-December to mid-January due to foggy weather.

“There will be no grounding of flights in foggy weather as we have installed 180 approach lights with touchdown zone on runways. Nearly 95% of the work is over and the entire work will be completed by September end. We will make it operational from October 1,” said Ajay Bhardwaj, chief executive officer (CEO) of the airport.

Bharadwaj said the new system will allow pilots to land with the help of instruments if they cannot establish visual contact with the runway, especially in foggy conditions, even when visibility is down. At present, the airport faces frequent cancellation of flights in peak winter, when visibility drops due to fog.

The airport got the international tag six years ago, and in April 2019, round-the-clock operations began, allowing landing of wide-bodied aircraft. However, no big aircraft is in the pipeline yet.