Armed forces must share airspace: AAI

New Delhi: 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.
25/04/07 Business Standard

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Apr 2007, General Aviation Apr 2007, Safety Apr 2007