Mumbai: The Flight Inspection Unit (FIU) of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) completed the testing of Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA). The exercise that commenced on Monday, was completed on Tuesday.
The authorities tested 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. “The FIU will now submit its findings and report to the AAI which will take further decisions,” sources known to the development said.
Earlier, the Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIAL) stated that this is a landmark event essential to prepare the instrument approach procedure and eventual licensing of NMIA and its operationalisation.
An official who was part of the drill said, “It was a 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.”
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.
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.
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.
