AJAY PRASAD COMMITTEE SUBMITS
MASTER PLAN ON AIR NAVIGATION

New Delhi: The Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Praful Patel has received the Report of the Committee under the Chairmanship of Shri Ajay Prasad which had been set up for formulating a Master Plan for Next Generation Futuristic Air Navigation Services. The Committee had been set up on 20th March, 2007.

The Committee has made several recommendations on various aspects of Air Navigation Services:

The Committee has recommended that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) should immediately implement the International standards of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) which stipulates that Air Traffic Flow Management shall be implemented for airspace where air traffic demand at times exceeds capacity. The Committee has also stressed that Automation is essential and there are a number of solutions available like Terminal automation, Integrated Automation, Intergraded Oceanic, Strategic Flight Planning across airspace etc.

On Airspace Management, the Committee recommends that AAI should consolidate airspace from the existing four Flight Information Region (FIRs) to two FIRs with two Area Control Centres, one at Delhi and the other at Mumbai. The Airspace should be an integrated one with automated Air Traffic Management (ATM) system and have networked Radars and Very High Frequencies (VHFs).

The Committee has recommended that AAI should immediately review Air Traffic Control (ATC) Procedures being followed at various airports, especially at Metro Airports and initiate action to increase the capacity of handling air traffic. AAI should take this as a continuous exercise and strive to achieve optimization of the procedures. AAI should also implement these Area Navigation (RNAV) and Required Navigation Performance (RNP) procedures at Mumbai and Delhi as soon as they are finalized.

In this regard, on ATC delays, the Committee has said that an ATC delay of more than five minutes should be considered as significant and the capacity to handle the air traffic should be determined accordingly. Once a capacity is analyzed scientifically, the system should not be overloaded.

On Voice Communication System (VCS), the Committee has said that the AAI plan to complete VHF coverage through out the continental space at a height 20,000 feet and above should be implemented on priority by May, 2008. To meet the International Standards of ICAO, AAI should provide VHF coverage in Area Control Centres which have been declared as Class 'D' airspace and are required to provide VHF coverage to all Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) and Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flights. AAI should use the Dedicated Satellite Communication Network (DSCN) for operating the Remote Control Air to Ground (RCAG) VHF equipments.

In Data Link Communication Systems, the Committee has recommended that AAI should upgrade the Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) facility to Digital Automatic Information Service (DATIS) facility having both Voice and Data Link capabilities at the earliest. AAI should provide Data link Application for departure clearances and facility for data communication link to communicate with all Air Traffic service units – especially for Mumbai and Delhi by August, 2008.

On Navigation Systems, the Committee has said that the Area Navigation and the Required Navigation Performance (RNP) routes which significantly enhance the capacity of air space, should be adopted by AAI for both domestic and international routes. The AAI should on priority design and provide Approaches with Vertical Guidance for runways not equipped with Instrumental Landing Systems (ILS). AAI should also install Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) at Delhi and Mumbai airports.

On Surveillance Systems, the Committee has recommended that the AAI should operationalise Behrampur Radar immediately by using dedicated Satellite Communication System. AAI should install all 10 Radars on priority as it helps reducing the spacing of aircraft and increasing the capacity of airspace. AAI should network all Radars by 2008-09 and the 10 new Radars being procured should be commissioned in the network permitting them to operate from the Area Control Centres of Delhi and Mumbai.

On Air Traffic Services (ATSs), the Committee has said that the Air Traffic Control Officers (ATCOs) should be provided standardized functional capabilities of Air Traffic Services support systems like conflict prediction, detection, advisory and resolution needs.

The Committee recommends that the Flexible Use of Airspace should be accepted as underline basis for optimizing the use of Indian airspace for meeting the needs of both military and civil aviation for the country, which has been accepted by the Ministry of Defence and the Indian Air Force (IAF). A high-level committee of the Government should be constituted for common use of Indian airspace and for working out ways of flexible use of airspace. The Committee feels that the IAF should review the Restricted and Danger Areas expeditiously.

As a first step, the airspace above 29,000 feet could be released for civil traffic in the presently defined restricted/danger airspace. The Defence requirements would have a priority of not only increasing their height requirements but also expanding the restricted airspace, whenever required. To divert the planned civilian traffic and not to cause undue hardship to passengers, a notice of at least 24 hours would need to be given. The normal air Defence traffic would continue to use the upper airspace above 29,000 feet along with the civilian air traffic as at present.

On Aviation Weather Services, the Committee has stressed upon the necessity for seamless bi-directional flow of Met-Data between the Meteorological Department and AAI. It has recommended the setting up of a National Aviation Meteorological Centre (NAMC) under the Indian Meteorological Department to meet aviation weather requirements of all stakeholders. There should a provision of web based meteorological briefing system to enable user agency to have direct access to weather information. The Committee has also recommended clear demarcation of the dual functional responsibilities of AAI as an 'Aerodrome Operator' and of an Air Navigation Service provider.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation will now considere the recommendations of the Committee.