Snazzy airport, archaic systems

KOLKATA: Automation of air navigation systems, a critical component of the Kolkata airport modernisation project, has been scrapped by the civil aviation ministry despite reservations of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The move, aimed to contain the project budget following an escalation in construction cost, will impair safety of flight operations in the region and severely constrain utilisation of airspace, feel experts.
Automation of air navigation system allows integration of data from radars and other communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) equipment so that air traffic controllers can access all the information at any console. At present, information from each radar is available at a console dedicated to it.
"The system in Kolkata is obsolete. If one radar develops a snag, the controller who is handling the traffic goes blind and has to switch to manual control. Even if another overlapping radar has the flight information, the controller cannot access it at the console. Moreover, if a console conks off, the radar becomes useless as the information cannot be accessed in another terminal," a veteran air traffic controller explained.
Given that air traffic is on the rise and separation between planes is reducing to optimise airspace, automation is critical to enable uninterrupted and blanket coverage of the skies. It was dropped in Kolkata due to space crunch. With no space in the current tower to accommodate the flight and radar data processing systems, it was to be housed in the new ATC tower. But the entire Rs 250-crore air traffic system complex was shelved after the Kolkata airport upgrade project cost shot up from Rs 1,942 crore to Rs 2,325 crore.
AAI Officers' Association general secretary Y K Kaushik said efficiency as well safety of the Kolkata airspace had been compromised by the decision. "Automation is required for integration of all radars and other CNS system. It makes no sense to increase the radar count for better airspace coverage when there is no integration," he said.
Kaushik was also perplexed why the ministry dropped automation at Kolkata when Chennai and 38 non-metro stations were implementing it.
"Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad are already automated. Systems have been ordered for Kolkata, Chennai and smaller airports like Bhubaneswar, Patna, Gaya, Ranchi and Raipur. It is incomprehensible why the project has been shelved in Kolkata, which will now have an airport that looks ultra-modern but has outdated navigation systems," said Kaushik.
AAI has already placed orders for four monopulse surveillance secondary radars (MSSR) at Madhyamgram in West Bengal, Jharsuguda in Orissa, Katihar in Bihar and Vizag in Andhra Pradesh. Of these, three radars (each valued at Rs 12-15 crore) are already in shipment. As data from these radars was to be integrated, no separate consoles were ordered. Now, with automation not happening, dedicated display units are required but they have not been ordered yet. Nor is there space in the existing tower to instal them.
"If the approach radar at Kolkata developed a snag, a controller would have had the option of using the radar at Madhyamgram. But now, even when the radar is installed at Madhyamgram, it will be of no use till integration happens as its data cannot be accessed," an air traffic controller said.
In fact, air traffic controllers at Kolkata need integration more than other airports because traffic in its airspace is already high. With the Kolkata airspace located strategically between major hubs in south-east Asia and the West, the airport has to handle over 500 over flights daily, apart from 200-odd flights that land and take off from Kolkata.
At a meeting on status of CNS projects in the east held on July 19, regional executive director Gautam Mukherjee stressed the need for automation and construction of a new ATC tower at Kolkata airport. He also advised GM (CNS) D Ghosh and GM (air traffic management) Chandan Sen to write to the headquarters, projecting the requirement of automation and a new ATC tower at the city airport.
Former AAI executive director A K Misra, who was in charge of CNS as well as operations and maintenance (O&M) at airports across the country, concurred that automation would have enhanced the efficiency of Kolkata airspace.
"Automation makes the CNS operations more robust. This second line of defence enables greater airspace efficiency and allows traffic controllers the means and confidence to handle more flights into and out of an airport," he said.
As a senior official at Kolkata put it, lack of automation will take the city airport back in time. "It will become one of the most backward stations in terms of operational efficiency," said the official.