Fog preparedness of airlines reviewed

The Civil Aviation Ministry today took stock of the fog preparedness of all airlines in the country, with the Met Department forecasting that airports in the northern region would experience foggy weather from the first week of December.

At a meeting attended by representatives of all major carriers, the Ministry also informed them that new radars, particularly the Surface Movement Radar (SMR), were likely to be in place to ensure operation of CAT-III (Category-III) Instrument Landing System at the Delhi airport, sources said. Most of the carriers operating the Airbus series of aircraft, like Indian, Kingfisher, GoAir and Air India, were geared up to face the fog as their planes were equipped with the requried instrument to connect with the CAT-III system and their pilots trained, the sources said.

However, small planes like the ATR turboprops are not fitted with such equipment. The airline officials also spoke of problems of boarding and lodging faced by passengers in case the flights get cancelled. There was a lack of hotel rooms in most major cities, they complained at the meeting. The Met Department has forecast that Delhi would experience dense fog from December beginning, two weeks before it normal onset.

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