Mumbai airport to install new flight plan systems
07 Jun 2008
Mumbai: The Air Traffic Control (ATC), Mumbai is in the process of installing the standard terminal arrival routes (STAR) and standard instrument departure (SID) - flight plan procedures for aircraft on arriving at a particular destination or after taking off from an airport respectively - with area navigation (RNAV) capabilities.
Mumbai airport will become India's first airport to employ RNAV capabilities to STAR and SID procedures, according to MG Jhungare, general manager of Air Traffic Control, Mumbai.
This system will help airlines save precious fuel. Also, airport operators would be helped by better landing and take off planning.
The area navigation (RNAV) system will allow a particular aircraft to choose any course instead of a fixed path between two destinations. Primarily designed for use along with flight management systems (FMS), the system allows an aircraft to automatically generate a different planned route while controlling its course, speed and altitude, which eventually selects an optimum choice of route in that particular sector. The new system also helps in saving precious oil.