Delhi
Airport will soon become a zero-diversionary airport, as the Committee set up
in January this year, by the Director General of Civil Aviation, to look into
the matter, has submitted its report with 27 recommendations. The Terms of
Reference of the Committee were :-
(i)
To
make Delhi a zero diversionary airport without compromising safety of aircraft
operations;
(ii)
To
prepare a comprehensive document on low visibility operations defining duties
and responsibilities of all stakeholders; and
(iii)
To
look into the specific issues pertaining to international operations and
modalities to deal with stranded passengers during low visibility conditions
The
Committee’s recommendations relate to India Meteorological Department, Airports
Authority of India, Delhi International Airport Ltd, Bureau of Civil Aviation
Security, DGCA and various airlines. The Secretary, Ministry of Civil
Aviation, Shri Ashok Lavasa, in a meeting with all stakeholders who would be
responsible for carrying out various activities within their ambit of
responsibility, emphasised to ensure that various actions on the
recommendations must be completed before October this year.
The
Delhi International Airport Ltd, during the last three winter seasons, has
witnessed a total of 289 diversions. There were 57 diversions in 2011, 89 in
2012 and 143 last year. It is expected that after the recommendations of the
Committee are implemented, the chances of diversions of flights at Delhi
Airport will come down drastically. The Committee has also given
recommendations for setting up of a procedure for dealing with stranded
passengers if the flight is delayed or diverted at Delhi and other alternate
airports.
Director
General Civil Aviation Dr. Prabhat Kumar has written to heads of the various
stakeholders to draw a definite timeline for the immediate implementation of
various recommendations before the onset of next winter season.
Following
are the recommendations made by the Committee:
1.
Meteorological
department should upgrade the meteorological facilities at IGIA and its
designated alternate airports. In this regard, integration of meteorological
data in one panel should be considered.
2.
Additional
RVR equipment should be installed wherever needed and a provision of live RVR
for all the runways at IGIA be made at ATC Unit.
- During fog, a
dedicated fog forecast should be provided at three hour intervals for IGIA
and alternate airports.
4.
New
equipment for measuring instantaneous low level wind, temperature, moisture
content should be commissioned at IGIA for increasing accuracy of forecast
(onset and lifting timings of fog).
- Alternate
airports near IGIA viz. Jaipur, Lucknow and Amritsar should be upgraded to
Cat IIIB level.
6.
ATC
shall establish ATFM Unit to implement capacity adjustment and collaborative
decision making procedures.
7.
ATC
shall provide proactive diversion management in coordination with
meteorological department and other airport operators.
8.
Airport
operators shall not schedule any maintenance work at IGIA and alternate
airports during the fog period unless it is unavoidable.
9.
AAI
shall ensure that required navigational aids are maintained in fully
serviceable conditions both at IGIA and alternate airports during fog period.
- ATC shall
separate Cat I traffic from Cat II/III traffic as applicable for holding
at Delhi. ATFM Unit shall decide when to suspend Cat I/II holding at
Delhi.
11. ATC shall define
specific trigger points for implementation of progressive flow control
measures.
12. During fog season,
operators shall not be allowed to file IGIA as alternate airport without prior
permission of ATC.
- AIP shall be
amended to indicate that the term fuel emergency would not be recognised
at Indian aerodromes.
14. DIAL shall ensure
that all foreign carriers deploy only Cat IIIB compliant aircraft along with
qualified flight crew during winter season subject to compliance of weekly
capacity entitlements.
15. DIAL shall
coordinate with AAI for issuance of NOTAM and AIP amendments for full implementation
of Recommendation No. 13.
16. DIAL shall implement
restrictions on use of APU at T3 IGIA with the objective of reducing pollution.
17. DIAL should identify
and implement measures for reducing vehicular traffic at IGIA during low
visibility operations.
- DIAL shall make
provision for container silage at IGIA in line with international
practice.
19. Operators shall
deploy only Cat IIIB compliant aircraft along with qualified flight crew during
winter season to/from IGIA. For this purpose, operators must ensure adequate
capacity build-up in terms of aircraft capability and crew qualification well
in time before the onset of next fog season. All scheduled airlines shall
provide their detailed Cat III status indicating aircraft and crew numbers
through a consolidated return to DGCA every year.
20. During the fog
period, operators shall indicate their take-off and landing minima in Item No.
18 of ICAO Flight Plan.
- Operators
shall provide their proposed schedule indicating aircraft Cat II/Cat III
capability details one day prior to actual operations during the fog
period. This information should reach ATC latest by 2200 hrs every day.
Any tactical changes after filing the requisite information must be
notified to ATC as soon as practicable.
22. DGCA shall amend
regulations applicable to authorisation of aircraft and pilots for Cat II/III
operations in line with major international regulations.
- BCAS
shall formulate and issue passenger deboarding procedure during delays in
low visibility at both the terminals of IGIA.
24. Standard Operating
Procedure (SOP) for de-boarding of passengers shall be developed and implemented
at IGIA during low visibility operations.
25. All stakeholders
viz. DIAL, BCAS, airlines, ATC and GHAs shall coordinate towards development of
joint SOP.
26. To effectively
implement the strategies, a dedicated group of stakeholders be constituted to
oversee fog related issues at IGIA.
- Airlines, ATC and airport operators shall conduct a one day
refresher training programme dedicated to low visibility operations for
their concerned operations personnel. Regular pre-fog consultation and
preparatory exercises involving all stakeholders shall be held well in
advance before the commencement of fog season to duly assess the
capabilities of the entire system and address any shortcomings.
*****
UM/SA/IK