Navi Mumbai: After suspending testing of Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) last month due to incessant rains, the officials from Airports Authority of India (AAI) conducted the process at the NMIA site on Monday.
The exercise will continue on Tuesday during which the authorities will test various aspects of the ILS operations at the runway 08R/26L. ILS testing is part of calibrating flight path to ensure operational readiness of the runway.
"It was tiresome drill. Controlling from Mumbai approach controllers was simply outstanding, remarkable and master work which was never seen before. It was a Herculean task that only an unbreakable determination can overcome for all of us as a flying crew, FIU inspectors and approach controllers," an official who was part of the test, said.
"It was not at all easy as we did commissioning for ILS 08 at Navi Mumbai and simultaneously arrivals were on ILS approach on RWY 27 at Mumbai. The way approach controllers managed their arrivals on 27 and managing us too was simply awesome and top professionalism was exhibited not an iota of doubt. We have reached half mark for ILS commissioning for RWY 08 at Navi Mumbai and going to finish it by Tuesday if weather permits," he said and added that
Navi Mumbai may get newly equipped commissioned and calliberated ILS soon. ILS is a precision runway approach aid based on two radio beams, which together provide pilots with both vertical and horizontal guidance during an approach to the land.
While the localiser component of the system provides lateral guidance such as whether an arriving aircraft is in alignment with the central line of the runway to a pilot, the glider path component of the system gives vertical guidance like altitude.
While the first trial landing of the aircraft is likely to be conducted on October 31, 2024, the entire airport is stated to be operational by March 31, 2025.
Recently, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) awarded ‘NMI’ as location code to Navi Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd. (NMIAL), a subsidiary of Mumbai International Airport Ltd. IATA Codes are an integral part of the aviation and travel industry, which help identify destinations and traffic documents of a commercial airline. In addition, this three-letter code also facilitates smooth running of hundreds of electronic applications, which have been built around these coding systems for passenger and cargo traffic purposes.
