Kolkata: The integrated terminal at Kolkata airport was deserted for nearly 17 hours between 3pm on Friday to 8am on Saturday as flights were suspended, fearing disruptions by cyclone Fani. But the Air Navigation Services building next door saw hectic activity all through as air traffic controllers sat glued to the terminals, chalking out route deviations for nearly1,000 aircraft that overfly Kolkata air traffic region (ATR).
As the cyclone made landfall at Puri around 8am on Friday and ploughed through Bhubaneswar, Jajpur and Balasore before entering Bengal at Kharagpur and passed through Arambagh, Katwa and Krishnagore, controllers coordinated between Met officials and planes flying into Kolkata ATR to guide them safely, skirting the severe turbulence in the vicinity of the cyclone. “Route deviations were given to many flights between West Asia and the Far East or South East Asia that overfly through Kolkata ATR. The closure of Pakistani air space made the situation all the more challenging,” an air traffic controller said.
While flight planners chalked out longer alternative flight paths according to Met predictions on Fani’s progress, the cyclone’s dynamics and its accelerated progress led to instances when controllers advised pilots to switch to the original route, assuring them that the peril had passed.
05/05/19 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India
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As the cyclone made landfall at Puri around 8am on Friday and ploughed through Bhubaneswar, Jajpur and Balasore before entering Bengal at Kharagpur and passed through Arambagh, Katwa and Krishnagore, controllers coordinated between Met officials and planes flying into Kolkata ATR to guide them safely, skirting the severe turbulence in the vicinity of the cyclone. “Route deviations were given to many flights between West Asia and the Far East or South East Asia that overfly through Kolkata ATR. The closure of Pakistani air space made the situation all the more challenging,” an air traffic controller said.
While flight planners chalked out longer alternative flight paths according to Met predictions on Fani’s progress, the cyclone’s dynamics and its accelerated progress led to instances when controllers advised pilots to switch to the original route, assuring them that the peril had passed.
05/05/19 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India
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