New air traffic flow system to keep flyers informed

Mumbai: Flight delays may soon be a thing of past. With rising air traffic, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has speeded up the process to establish an Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) system. The system, which will be installed at all important airports, will collect and monitor airlines' data system with the information provided with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) of various airports.
The mechanism was proposed two years ago but the authorities only recently set the ball rolling by finalizing the service-provider to establish the system. Officials said a US-based company, also providing services to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), would be asked to install the system in India.
"The decision is almost made. It only needs to be put to paper and announced to the concerned authorities," an official said. "Once this is done, work on ATFM can finally start. However, it is still likely to take a couple of years," he added. Officials said the original deadline to complete installation of ATFM was in 2010. If the system is installed, it will be a great help at airports like Mumbai, which handles more than 650 flight movements a day. In general, it will lessen passenger woes arising out of major flight delays.
Officials said once the system was in place, it would help reduce delays drastically. The air-traffic flow will also be more organised.
29/06/10 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jun 2010, New Jun 2010