AAI seeks hourly weather updates to reduce delays,diversions

An airport official said: “The Airport Authority of India has been in talks with the Met department,seeking hourly updates. Till now,the Met department has been giving weekly updates on the weather. The advantage of this move will be that two to three hours before a flight takes off or lands,one can know the weather conditions in different cities.”

Officials said this move will help streamline domestic flights.

“International flights are frequent,but it’s easier to create a diversion and help them land somewhere midway. But the frequency of domestic flights is higher and prior information on an hourly basis will help manage schedules better,” the official said.

The move will also help save on fuel costs,amounting to crores,since flights will not have to hover for too long or be diverted as frequently,officials said.

Sources said this system has been in place in the US and Europe and has been functioning well.

“The average time taken to travel from one city to the other is about two to three hours. With these hourly updates,air traffic controller will be able to hold take-offs of all those flights from the particular city,” the official said.

Although the Indira Gandhi International Airport is CAT-III compliant,this move will ensure smoother air traffic flow,he said.