Hyderabad: Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RIGA) will soon upgrade its infrastructure for improved low-visibility operations by the end of this year.
At present, RIGA is equipped with a CAT I Instrument Landing System (ILS), a precision radio navigation system that allows short-range guidance to aircraft to reach the runway at night or in bad weather with 550 metres of visibility. The new upgrade to CAT II ILS is underway and will enable aircraft to land in conditions with 350-metre visibility.
A Hyderabad airport spokesperson told The Hindu Business Line that one side of the main runway is being upgraded to CAT II, and the work is expected to be complete by December. “Upgradation to CAT III has also been planned,” they said.
Besides Hyderabad airport, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Ranchi and Raipur airports are also being upgrading with CAT II.
Fog disrupts air traffic
Meanwhile, on Monday, as northern parts saw foggy conditions, the RGIA opened its runway to several flights that were diverted. Many flights were delayed, diverted and cancelled across the country with major disruptions at Delhi airport.
Three international flights were among the seven aircrafts that landed at the Hyderabad airport.
The diversions included four flights from Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra International Airport, two from Chennai International Airport, and one from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Three flights from Bengaluru, scheduled to land at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra International Airport, were among the four to be diverted to the Hyderabad airport. Vistara Air from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, headed for Kolkata, also landed here.
Two International flights, from Singapore and London, heading towards Chennai Airport were also halted at Hyderabad. Egypt Air’s flight MS 973 from Cairo International Airport to Delhi was also rerouted and landed here.
