Vijayawada airport in danger of losing ILS

Vijayawada: Delay in expansion of runway of the Vijayawada Airport at Gannavaram can prove costly and even result in permanent loss of Instrument Landing System (ILS), an advanced system that facilitates landing of aircraft during adverse climatic conditions, according to official sources.
The airport, which has night landing facility for long and even got the long-awaited refuelling facility recently, is suited for expansion into a full-fledged one for the landing of bigger aircraft like Boeing 747 if the runway is expanded.
Though the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is ready to provide ILS, delay in expansion of the runway is stopping it from doing so.
If work pertaining to expansion of the runway is not taken up in the next couple of months, there is a certainty of ILS finding its way to some other airport, officials fear.
The reason for this is that the AAI will not think of providing ILS for the present 1,745-metre-long runway, which is being used by smaller aircraft like ATRs now.The ILS is generally used for the landing of reasonably bigger aircraft of a seating capacity of 200 or more. This requires the runway to be expanded to a length of 2,286 metres.
09/12/07 G. Ravikiran/The Hindu

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Categories: Airports Dec 2007, Safety Dec 2007