Experts have said upgradation to Instrumental Landing System (ILS) at the Srinagar Airport is the only way out to overcome the repeated flight disruptions.
“This system ensuresthat flights can land even if visibility is 350 meters,” said an aviationexpert.
The ILS, accordingto experts, is a ground-based instrumentation system that provides precisionguidance to an aircraft approaching the runway to enable its safe landingduring reduced visibility conditions, common in Kashmir during winters.
Flight cancellationsat the Srinagar International Airport have almost doubled this year, owing toinclement weather. While 98 flights were cancelled during entire month ofJanuary this year, 196 flights have already been cancelled this month owing topoor visibility.
After the snowfallof January 5, 2019 air operations were affected on 12 days. The air traffic haswitnessed a continuous suspension for 7 days this month so far.
As per AirportsAuthority of India data, 300 flights were cancelled during 2016 due toinclement weather. Experts say despite introduction of Simple Approach LightingSystem (SALS), which facilitates smooth landing and take-off in poorvisibility, air traffic remains to be increasingly affected every year.
“Both fog andsnowfall for last few years has been so intense that even an improved landingsystem is unable to help smooth flight operations during extreme weatherconditions,” said Director, Airports Authority of India, Santosh Dhoke. He saidtill last year the required runway visibility at the airport was 2000 metres,adding that installation of SALS at the airport has helped to reduce therequirement to 1000 metres.
Dhoke said even thebest of landing facility could not have prevented the cancellations as runwayvisibility during the recent fog has been extremely poor. “In such situations,nature has to play the biggest role,” said Dhoke.
The Srinagar Airportis under the direct operational control of the Indian Air Force. The control ofair traffic and that of the landing strip—including the facilities offire-fighting and crash activities—is with the IAF while the terminal building,where the passengers check-in, is taken care of by the Airports Authority ofIndia. The AAI also controls the apron area (where an aircraft is parked), butthe airspace control is with the IAF.