Airport upgrade in final stages
Project to benefit both civilian and military flights.
3 min read
The contract has been awarded to Tata Power’s Strategic Electronic Division (SED).
The work on Modernisation of Air Field Infrastructure (MAFI) project is its final stages at the Pune air base and a real-time testing of the installed equipment is currently on. The project is going to benefit both civilian and military flights from the Pune airport.
As per the MAFI project, 30 air bases of the Indian Air Force are undergoing modernisation, including eight key airfields along the India-China border. The contract has been awarded to Tata Power’s Strategic Electronic Division (SED).
The project includes installation of advanced air-traffic management systems along with category-2 airfield lighting systems and state-of-the-art navigational aids that will help flying operations at night and in adverse weather conditions.
[related-post]
The modernisation project also includes instrument landing system, distance measuring equipment and a digital very high frequency Omni Range, which is a system that helps places to maintain their position in the air according to the location of the runway and also tactical air navigation system, a senior IAF officer said.
“This modernisation will significantly increase training capabilities. Currently, real-time testing of the equipment is being conducted and we expect the project to finish in a few weeks,” the officer said.
Sources said a plane specially brought in from abroad for testing is being used.
Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale (retired) said, “One of the important advantages of MAFI is that it will bring uniformity in the equipment and setup at all these bases. This will result into a standardisation in training sorties and maintenance. So, for example, if a plane takes off from Pune and has to land for refuelling at another air base, it will be done smoothly. Also, some setup can be created now within the cockpit of the aircraft for communication of pilots with the ground crew.”
IAF officers said the current project of the modernization of the airbases would be followed by another phase of such improvements. Another important project, GPS-aided GEO-augmented navigation (GAGAN) is also underway at the Pune airport.
Ajay Kumar, director at Pune International Airport said, “There is no doubt it will help our operations significantly. For example, it will increase the landing capabilities, especially during the low-visibility situations.”
In the year 2013-14, the Pune airport saw 30,534 flights (83 per day) as compared to 33,760 (92 per day) in 2014-15, while the number of passengers increased from 9,853 per day to 11,480 during the same period.
The precision that MAFI will bring in is expected to increase the flight handling capability of the Pune airport.
You May Like
