Airports to get common terminal control centre

The state government is likely to set up a consolidated terminal control centre for the city’s existing airport and the international airport proposed at Panvel.

The state government is likely to set up a consolidated terminal control centre for the city’s existing airport and the international airport proposed at Panvel.

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By 2012 or 2013, Mumbai will technically become a multi-airport city and will handle the traffic of over 40 million passengers annually. The international airport at Navi Mumbai will handle 10 million of those passengers annually.

The terminal control centre (radar control facility) will provide air traffic control services for both Santacruz and Navi Mumbai airport.

A team of state government officials that visited US last week studied the Terminal Radar Approach Control facility (TRACON) at New York and Dallas airports and will recommend that a similar facility be set up in Mumbai.

The terminal control centre is likely to be set up near Kalyan. It will have an air space surveillance of up to 20,000feet and around 100km radius from the airport.

“In the next ten years, the city will have very heavy air traffic. This kind of terminal control is necessary for air traffic control,’’ said a CIDCO official and member of the team of government officials, on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.