HUBBALLI: The newly installed Instrument Landing System (ILS) at Hubballi Airport will be operational by the end of the year. The technology, which is a highly accurate radio signal navigation and precision runway approach aid, will provide pilots with both vertical and horizontal guidance during an approach to land.
The equipment was installed in January this year. Due to the lockdown, other technical processes were delayed. Recently, ground clearance, flight calibration, and other technical processes have been completed at the airport. The reports have been submitted to the Safety Directorate to get further clearances.
At present, the airport is using Doppler Very High-Frequency Omni Range (DVOR) technology which is a ground-based radio navigational aid that provides bearing information to aircraft to define air traffic control routes. To land an aircraft, this technology is required for the pilot as well as the airports for approach and departure procedures.
DVOR technology will not help the airport authorities and pilots to land flights during bad weather like heavy fog. Recently, two flights of IndiGo arriving in the morning at Hubballi Airport were not able to land immediately due to poor visibility.
The Bengaluru-Hubballi flight on August 16 landed an hour late and was flying over Hubballi until then. And on Thursday (October 8) due to low clouds, the Mumbai-Hubballi flight landed 20 minutes late and was again flying over Hubballi until then.
Once the ILS is operational, issues like poor visibility and low clouds will not affect the landing of flights. Hubballi Airport is one of the fastest-growing airports in the country and stands in the third position in the state.
Hubballi Airport director Pramod Kumar Thakre said the installation of ILS was part of the airport upgradation plan which has been completed now.
“We have sent all reports to the concerned departments. Information about ILS at Hubballi Airport will be published in Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) and 30 days after this, ILS will be operational. It will take another two months to complete all these processes and then it will be operational,” he said.