Delhi Airport (DEL) gets India’s tallest ATC tower. In a bid to enhance the safety and boost the efficiency of air transport management services at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, state-of-the-art and the country’s most technologically advanced air traffic control (ATC) tower was inaugurated on Monday. Union Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated the new “Aerodrome Control Tower”.
The ATC tower which is 102-metres tall has provisions for 33 Tower as well as Ground Controllers position at Level 26 and 25. Delhi Airport, which is touted as the busiest in India, is expected to handle about 100 million passengers per annum, a jump from the existing capacity of 70 million. Puri said that with the inauguration of the ATC tower at IGI Airport, air traffic systems embark on a new journey. He said that the growth of the country’s economy reflects in the ever-increasing passenger and cargo traffic at airports. During the last 5 years, the number has consistently registered double-digit growth, Puri said. It has become pertinent to scale up the service and systems to efficiently deal with this growth, the Union Minister tweeted.
According to reports, so far Air Traffic Control system at Delhi Airport used to handle over one flight per minute throughout 24 hours. Around 1,200 takeoffs and landings take place every day. There is overflying traffic of at least 250 aircraft. In total, around 40,000 movements are handled per month at Delhi’s IGI Airport. This new ATC Tower will provide a better and robust safety system and better visibility of the apron area, three runways, and taxiways. The new ATC tower comprises equipment worth Rs 60 crores. The building is earth-quake resistant and has the capability to withstand quake with intensity up to Richter scale 8. The old tower was 60 metres tall.
So far, the heights of ATC towers located in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru airports are 84 metres, 75 metres, and 65 metres. Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok has 132.2-metre tall ATC tower, Kuala Lumpur International Airport has 130-metre tall ATC tower.
Earlier in June, Puri inaugurated the Central Command Centre for Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) which would ensure higher standards of safety. Airport Authority of India (AAI) had stated that ATFM system would ensure a balance between the capacity and the demand to achieve optimum utilization of airport, aircraft, and airspace.
Source: Financial Express