Traffic controllers oppose proposal to reduce gap between arriving aircraft

It had proposed to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that the separation be reduced from five nautical miles (10 km) or two minutes to three nautical miles (six km) or about a minute and a half.  According to sources,the proposal was intended to reduce traffic congestion and thereby to minimise delays.

However,air traffic controllers told Newsline that the ground conditions remained the same and reducing separation between two aircraft would only worsen the ground congestion and put more pressure on the existing system.

“As it is believed,the proposal is not MIAL’s but of the Airport Authority of India (AAI). We had proposed the reduction after a committee led by former civil aviation secretary Ajay Prasad had recommended the same in 2008. But under the existing circumstances,a reduction in the separation gap between aircraft will only lead to more chaos on ground and increase passenger inconvenience,” a senior airport official said. 

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) document 4444,which deals with the procedures for air traffic management,that is accepted as the industry standard has pegged separation limit between two aircraft at five nautical miles,but permits the separation limit to be reduced to three nautical miles.

An MIAL official said its argument was simple. A reduction in separation between aircraft from 120 seconds to about 90 seconds (which is standard at most airports worldwide) could result in a substantial increase in capacity and hence lower air congestion. However,an air traffic controller said unless the airport’s infrastructure has not been improved,“nothing extra can be accommodated.”

An MIAL spokesperson refused to comment.

Meanwhile,the ATC is awaiting the end of trials of Auto Track III,an upgrade from the present Auto Track II. The new software,which aims at improving the efficiency of controllers,has faced teething problems during the trials. This comes after the implementation of the Performance Based Navigation System (PBNS) last year,through which better traffic management was expected. However,the infrastructural issues had limited its scope.