Chennai: January 3, 2015, was a particularly misty day in Chennai. A thick blanket of fog had enveloped the city disrupting air traffic. Pilots of flights coming in from Mumbai took a while to realize that visibility was less than 100m. By then, it was too late for traffic control to relay the news to airlines in Mumbai about the dense fog.
Flights that could have been delayed till the problem was solved took off and were unaware of the ideal route to take to Chennai in such a situation. This plunged the airlines operation department and traffic control into chaos. Such situations, which are common place, may be soon a thing of the past. Airports Authority of India (AAI) will launch a project to streamline air traffic flow to the six busiest airports in the country.
The Centralized Air Traffic Flow Management (C-ATFM) is expected to help cut down delays and allow uniform management of flights. The unit will coordinate with India Meteorological Department, defence, airports and airlines to chart out routes and allot departure and arrival slots to avoid delays and congestion. With Delhi as the command and control centre, it has been put to test and shadow operations will start in September.
05/06/15 V Ayyappan/Times of India
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Flights that could have been delayed till the problem was solved took off and were unaware of the ideal route to take to Chennai in such a situation. This plunged the airlines operation department and traffic control into chaos. Such situations, which are common place, may be soon a thing of the past. Airports Authority of India (AAI) will launch a project to streamline air traffic flow to the six busiest airports in the country.
The Centralized Air Traffic Flow Management (C-ATFM) is expected to help cut down delays and allow uniform management of flights. The unit will coordinate with India Meteorological Department, defence, airports and airlines to chart out routes and allot departure and arrival slots to avoid delays and congestion. With Delhi as the command and control centre, it has been put to test and shadow operations will start in September.
05/06/15 V Ayyappan/Times of India
