BENGALURU: While global aviation standards have progressed by leaps and bounds, those in India still lag, reflected by its lack of a Category III Instrument Landing System (ILS) ecosystem.
In the absence of this global standard that assists one of the most critical phases of flying (landing), Indian aviation remains open to inquiry. ILS is a mechanism that can land aircraft safely with the help of guiding systems that add another layer of safety and precision over visual approach. It is divided into three categories, and each category is further divided into three sub-categories (A, B, C). Each level-up allows a flight crew to land safely in worse visibility, with Category III allowing safe landing with up to zero visibility.
Many Indian pilots are not trained for Category III approaches, not only because of a lack of push from carriers, but also due to acute lack of Category III ILS on ground. As per a report published by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on February 8, 2024, “There are total six airports in India where Runway is certified for CAT III (Low visibility) operations at Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, Amritsar, Bengaluru and Kolkata (sic).” The country has 487 operational airports in all.
A spokesperson from the KIA, requesting anonymity, said, “The airports usually do not maintain data about reasons for delay. It only says bad weather, and gives no details about the flight or the pilot.”
Capt Anil Rao, General Secretary, Airlines Pilots Association of India, stressed, “Many airports (like Pune and Bagdogra) are actually military airfields, where civil operations are performed under restrictions. Most of these airfields operate under visual flying conditions. The Airports Authority of India should intervene (to implement Category II-III ILS for low-visibility operations).”Capt CS Randhawa, president, Federation of Indian Pilots, said, “In India, most airports are Category I. The ground equipment is not compliant in many cases.”
He said, “First, the Airports Authority of India and private players like Adani need to ensure that the basic on-ground equipment is present at airports. Under the Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme, there are a lot of airfields without ILS at all. Most have only Visual Flight Rules (VFR) with no ground aids. You need 5 km of visibility to land.”