CHENNAI: In a move aimed at enhancing flight safety, the Oceanic airspace of Chennai, spread over four lakh square nautical miles through which 400 international aircraft transit daily using 14 international routes, is being bifurcated from Monday, according to Sylvester Israel, General Manager Air Traffic Management, Chennai.
Sylvester has been elevated as the Executive Director of Airports Authority of India (AAI), New Delhi.
With this vertical bifurcation two air traffic controllers would come into operation. Earlier, a lone air traffic controller was manning the entire Oceanic airspace and there was a fear of error as the workload was stressful, said Sylvester.
“We are dividing the airspace into lower oceanic control and upper oceanic control. The lower control will cater to aircraft flying up to 36,500 feet and the upper above 36,500 feet to 46,000 feet. An aircraft will now be contacting the two air traffic controllers using different frequencies,” Sylvester explained.
This move would ensure safety of the aircraft especially at a time when Bay of Bengal is experiencing weather turbulence. “When the weather is erratic the aircraft will be forced to deviate. During this time, the air controller will take into account the traffic situation while allowing the aircraft to deviate. This will also provide the aircraft optimum level to fly with enhanced safety and cut down spending on more fuel,” said Sylvester.
“We are implementing it at a right time when the monsoon is at its peak,” he added.
Meanwhile, Airports Authority of India is addressing the acute shortage of air traffic controllers by posting 30 air traffic controllers and has plans to post additional 25 air traffic controllers in the second week of January 2017 to augment the manpower in support of ongoing projects, Sylvester disclosed.
Central Air Traffic Flow Management System, which is likely to be implemented next year in congested airports of the country, will optimise the capacity versus demand in air traffic, both strategically and dynamically by integrating various operational constraints and weather parameters.