Srinagar Airport Adds More Equipments For Fliers Safety

ILS System To Improve Visibility For Flights Next Winter: Director

Srinagar- The authorities at the Srinagar airport have installed six new modern equipment including In-Line Baggage System(ILBS) in an attempt to enhance the air-navigation of the aircraft, passenger safety and security.

The six equipments installed at the Srinagar airport include Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Range (DVOR), non-directional (radio) beacon (NDB), the instrument landing system (ILS), X-Ray Baggage Inspection System (XBIS), In-Line Baggage System(ILBS) and ETD.

Talking to Kashmir Observer, Director Srinagar Airport, Mr. Kuldeep Singh said that these newly installed modern equipment at Srinagar Airport will ensure an increase in rush, enhance a smooth conduct of flight operations and will provide a hassle free experience to the passengers.

“In a recent meeting, we’ve received many complaints about various issues that the passengers were facing and now with these new equipment all those troubles faced by our passengers in the past will end as these machines have been installed to ensure a hassle free and time saving experience for our passengers,” Singh said.

Notably, the Srinagar Airport currently operates about 40-45 flights in a day but with these newly installed equipment, it is expected that the number of flights operating from Kashmir’s only Airport will increase by fifteen-twenty more flights.

“These new installations will also increase our flight rush especially during the evening hours and the winter months when flight disruption reaches to an extreme level,” Director Srinagar Airport said.

“Our airport is designed to function at a visibility of more than 1000 M. We never operate a flight if the visibility is less than this threshold. As such, the operation of our ILS is completely safe and secure. As of now, we’ve the Cat-1 ILS system installed at our airport and to overcome the low visibility closure of the airfield, we are scheduled to install a CAT-II ILS system,” he added.

Notably, the installation of the CAT-II ILS system is scheduled to commence in April and the new system will be ready for commissioning in October.

“Hopefully, next winter, the visibility with the new system will improve to 500 meters from 900 meters after the new ILS system is installed. And thus, the disruption in the flight operations during the winter months will subside to a fairly good extent. Currently, we have fantastic landing and navigation facilities but we’re continuously striving to improve with the increase in traffic at our airport.” The Airport Director said.

Pertinently, as the Srinagar Airport witnessed a rapid increase in traffic from the past several years, the authorities have also decided to build a new terminal and six more aircraft parking stands with a cost of Rs 1500 crores to ensure a delightful experience for the passengers.

“Unfortunately, we’ve received a high number of complaints from passengers demanding more flights and space at the Srinagar Airport. Our airport currently has a capacity to hold only 2.5 million passengers in a year, that means, about 950 passengers per hour. But, with the new terminal the annual passenger capacity will increase to 6.5 million from existing 2.5 million and augment peak hour passenger capacity to 3,000 from existing 950,” Singh said.

The Director further added that the Srinagar airport authority uses most modern machinery for snow removal and ice clearing from the airfield.

“I’d again reiterate the fact that flight operations at Srinagar Airport are safe. Our equipment measures are upto the safety standards of ICAO and BCAS. The training of our maintenance officers is conducted at ICAO certified facilities in accordance with the aviation standards. Our motto of “Safety with Security” is our constant inspiration to improve our performance.” Singh told Kashmir Observer.

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