Armed forces must share airspace: AAI

Civil aviation authorities made a strong case of a need for the military to "spare" more airspace to ease civilian air traffic congestion in India.

"Right now about 35 per cent of the country's airspace is used for military activities. In Delhi the total military (air)space is 70 per cent. That space can be shared between the civil and military operators," said K Ramalingam, the chairman of Airport Authority of India (AAI), at the US-India Aviation Partnership Summit in New Delhi today. The three-day meet will conclude tomorrow.

A working committee, which includes representatives from the Indian Air Force, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the AAI, is already in place. "What needs to be done is a proper demarcation between scheduled civilian and military aircraft," said an AAI official.

The AAI also said that it is planning to use high-tech "performance-based navigation (PBN)" to improve air-traffic management in India.

Discussing the key issues related to air traffic management, officials from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the US and the AAI pointed out the need of better monitoring and alerting systems.

PBN is already in use in the US and includes satellite-based navigation technology enabliing aircraft to fly in precise directions. Jeff Williams, the FAA programme manager for the United State's Air Traffic Organisation, said the PBN was most effective in difficult terrains for "flights to fly shorter, straighter routes, that will ultimately mean lesser fuel costs".

"We had discussed specified key areas in our meeting last year and the use of this (PBN) system was one. We have decided to implement the system but it will take time. All these have to happen in a phased manner," said Ramalingam.

Another AAI representative, V Somasundaram, echoed Ramalingam's views and said besides lack of infrastructure, there were major constraints in air traffic management, including the control of military over a significant part of major operational routes.

Speaking on the occasion, Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallya highlighted the difficulties faced by civilian aircraft due to preference to military aircraft movement. "We had booked six to seven parking slots a long time ago. But we were told that we were not allowed to fly from 6 am to 10 pm since they were reserved for military purposes," he said.

On air traffic congestion, Mallya said: "According to my recent calculations, there has been a 30 per cent increase in total block time per day, which includes total delay before landing and takeoff."

American participants, representing US firms like Lockheed Martin and Honeywell, offered advanced infotech solutions to resolve major air-traffic related problems.

Other than recommending technologically-advanced procedures to enhance safety, FAA urged a roadmap for implementation of performance-based navigation to meet the demands of increased traffic and airspace congestion.