Juhu airport: short of air traffic controllers

Mumbai: An acute shortage of air traffic controllers at the Juhu airport has restricted helicopter operations at the airport over the last month. Though offshore flight movements have not been affected, helicopter operators say they are finding it difficult to conduct test flights or maintenence flights that are crucial to smooth functioning of choppers.
The Juhu airport sees around 90 to 100 helicopter movements a day. The airport is being considered by the AAI to accommodate some flights from Mumbai airport in a bid to reduce congestion there.
Most of the movements out of the Juhu airport are for offshore operations to Bombay High with only a few flights made around the city by tour operators for recreational or other purposes. “There is a lot of flying that operators have to do for testing and maintenence purposes which has been restricted greatly since last month,” said Captain Uday Gelli, president of the Rotary Wings Association of India (Western Region). For the last month the Juhu ATC is allowing flights for tests and maintenence only after 2 pm. Earlier these were allowed throughout the day, chopper operators said.
27/09/10 Indian Express

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Categories: airports Sep 2010