Mumbai Airport to begin testing new air traffic system in May this year

Mumbai Airport's Air Traffic Control (ATC) office will begin testing an advanced air navigational set up, Auto Trac III, from May this year. Auto Trac III, a computer-based air traffic management system, has in-built components that enable air traffic controllers to access a flight's exact arrival time even when it is a few hundred miles away from the destination airport. According to a report in Hindustan Times, if the new system reaps positive results, flight delays to and from Mumbai Airport will reduce and enable the airport operator to increase the number of daily flights. "The Airport Authority of India (AAI) headquarters last week gave their approval to conduct trials on the new system from May this year,” said a senior ATC official.

Similar trials were conducted at the Delhi Airport last year. “Too many flights circle above the airport during peak hours. Using the new navigational structure, we could eliminate such bunching of flights and can also accommodate more flights," added the ATC official. More flights translates to cheaper air tickets. 

The move to improve the airport's air navigation structure has come at a good time because the airport operator too is trying to increase its flight-handling capacity. Last year, Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) engaged a UK-based service provider, NATS, to conduct a study on ways to increase the number of daily flight operations (take-offs and landings). NATS made a presentation about augmenting the city airport's potential to the Ministry of Civil Aviation last week. According to the presentation, the airport wants to increase its capacity from 34 flights per hour to 48 flights an hour. The presentation also proposed special training for pilots to reduce the time taken to vacate runways and the need for more rapid exit taxi-ways.