IGI – the busiest airport in India

Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said the Delhi airport handles 741 aircraft movements — which include landing and take-offs — per day while Mumbai handles 695 per day.

He said sometime delays occur when traffic density exceeds the runway handling capacity but to address this,various measures have been taken like air traffic control automation system at Delhi airport is being upgraded,advanced surface movement guidance and control system has been installed.

Slot allocation,installation of CAT-III B ILS and many other measures have been taken.

In reply to another question,the Civil Aviation Minister said that as of December 31,there are 2,337 commanders and co-pilots of all the airlines who are capable of handling the CAT-II,CAT-III A or CAT-III B compliant aircraft during foggy conditions.

National carrier Air India,post merger of Air India and Indian Airlines,has the maximum number of such pilots and co-pilots.

Air India has 842 pilots and co-pilots,while Jet Airways and JetLite combine has 702,Kingfisher Airlines has 333.

In the low cost carrier segment,IndiGo has 224 commanders and co-pilots,SpiceJet has 129 and Go Air 79.

To operate an aircraft in foggy conditions,when visibility is very poor,the pilot must have the training to land the aircraft using CAT-II,CAT-IIIA or CAT-IIIB instrument landing system.

The IGI airport is the only CAT-III B compliant airport in the country which allows an aircraft to land even when the runway visibility range is around 50 metres.

Ravi said there was no proposal to install CAT-III B ILS in any other airport in the country.