New ATC system at Nagpur can save 1.28 crore litres of aviation fuel

About 600 nautical miles around Nagpur are now safe from mid-air mishaps, thanks to the new Air Traffic Control (ATC) automation system 'Indra' at the international airport, which will also save up to 1.28 crore litres of aviation fuel every year, top airport officials said.

The Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur is the first to rationalise the new ATC Automation System imported from Spanish company Indra, among the 38 airports in the country, which are also installing the system commissioned last February.

The Airport Authority of India (AAI) recently made it operational in Nagpur. Following this, Bhopal and Hyderabad airport radars have been integrated with the airport, Ashok Kumar Verma, Airport Director, Nagpur said.

Also, Jharsugada and Ahmedabad will be integrated very soon, he said.

Verma said the new system has reduced the possibilty of human error, enhanced capacity and a reduced carbon footprint.

Under the new system, flights are taking direct routes, helping to reduce flight timing and saving fuel to the tune of 1,28,16,975 litres per year, he said. Besides, an ATC can locate any aircraft once it enters the jurisdiction and can direct the pilots to ascend in case the flight is losing height at a safe distance to avoid mid air collision. The enhanced safety nets include conflict alarms and a minimum safe altitude warning alarm, Verma added.

He said there are approximately 700 aircrafts movements per day from Europe, Middle East and Africa to South East and East Asia and most of the domestic traffic from North to South and East to West pass over the Nagpur controlled airspace.

Maintaining a safe and expeditious flow of traffic across the Nagpur airspace is thus, a tough task which the Nagpur ATC is handling. Verma said the news system is already operational in 138 countries in the world. The new system will enable the airplanes to reduce the flight timing of 1064 hours in a span of a year and save flying distance of 5,10,635 nautical miles.

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