Carriers testing procedure for smoother air traffic management

NEW DELHI: A new navigation procedure that would straighten up the flight path of an aircraft and make air traffic management smoother is being tested at Cochin airport by prominent Indian carriers, along with its developer Airbus.

The 'Required Navigation Performance' (RNP) was first tested last week when an Airbus A-320 of no-frill carrier IndiGo used it to approach and land at the airport in Kerala. The entire process was successfully validated earlier on Airbus simulators.

Jet Airways would soon demonstrate this procedure at the same airport using a Boeing 737-800, an Airbus spokesperson said here, adding it was validated using Airbus flight simulators.

The procedure, developed by Airbus subsidiary Quovadis, would benefit both Cochin International Airport authorities and airlines by reducing the flight path by almost 40 nautical miles, thereby saving fuel, and make air traffic management easier, especially in areas with reduced or no radar coverage, the spokesperson said.

It uses on-board systems and the satellite-based Global Positioning System, giving a go by to the conventional ground-based navigation installations.

The RNP, which would ensure a fully-managed approach of an aircraft on contained trajectories by straightening their approach path, has been jointly financed by Airbus and the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC).

Besides IndiGo and Jet, Quovadis, its partners CGx AERO in SYS and Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile, have worked with DGCA and Indian airport authorities to develop this procedure, the spokesperson said.

"Flying RNP at such a busy airport is a great way to ensure fully managed and stable approaches, reduce flight time and increase fuel efficiency," Capt A Kathpalia, Head of Flight Inspection at DGCA, was quoted as saying in a statement.