The air traffic flow management (ATFM) will help the airlines decide the time of departure by learning the traffic situation at the destination airport.
A new system will be in place soon to ensure that the airlines don’t burn precious fuel due to congestion at various airports. In the next six months, the entire continental airspace of the country will be covered by the air traffic flow management (ATFM) which will help the airlines decide the time of departure by learning the traffic situation at the destination airport.
With the growing number of airlines the airports are facing the problem of congestion. Delays arising out of this have become a perennial mood spoiler for the passengers as they constantly have to keep in mind the extra time at the airports. The airlines too have to lose out on their revenue since aircrafts, more often than not, hover around in the sky waiting for the signal to land and thereby burn excessive fuel.
A fortnight back, the Airport Authority of India signed an agreement with the Federal Aviation Authority, USA for setting up of the management system. “Simultaneously, contract has been given to a Spanish company, Indra, for the supply of eight enroute radars which will help us in covering the continental airspace,” said a senior airport authority official from Mumbai.
With the implementation of the system the number of delays will be greatly reduced. “ATFM will allow the air traffic control (ATC) to streamline the flow of traffic. Whether it is arrival or departure, flights will be released from airports according to the traffic,” said an ATC official.
Under ATFM, the data of flights and airports like time of departure, arrival, weather condition, airspace closure will be available at all the airports. “There will be uniformity of information as there will be integration of radars and the data will be available to the airlines, airports and the ATC helping them in making a decision,” he said.
For instance, if a flight is to leave from Delhi for Mumbai at 11.20am and there is congestion at Mumbai airport, then, the official said: “With ATFM the airline in Delhi will know that there is traffic at Mumbai and the pilot might have to hover around for 20 minutes. The airline will then decide to leave 20 minutes late from Delhi reducing wastage of fuel.”
An Airbus 320 spends fuel worth Rs40,000 to 60,000 in doing a go-around of 15-20 minutes. A bigger aircraft like Boeing 777 wastes Rs1 lakh in the same exercise.
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