NEW DELHI, Dec 1: India is developing a new satellite-based navigation system that will increase the number and safety of flights around the country, Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Wednesday.
The project called Gagan (sky) is being designed by the state-run Airports Authority of India and the Indian Space Research Organization with a prototype expected by 2006.
"This will enhance not only the air navigation capability in the Indian airspace, but also the safety of flights. The system will have the capability to be used not only in the Indian airspace, but also in the region," he added.
The satellite-based system is one of the latest in the world and only three other countries, including the United States, have similar technology. The Gagan project envisages the establishment of a network of ground stations together with a navigation system carried on a satellite.
Flights to and from India's capital New Delhi are regularly disrupted in winter because of thick fog and the new project will make it possible to land planes in these conditions by improving communication between pilots and air traffic control, Mr Patel said.
He did not give the cost of implementing the new navigation system, but said his ministry needs to invest 5.5 billion dollars to modernize its congested airports. "We have plans and commitment to develop our airports and air navigation services to world-class standards," he added.
India's domestic air traffic is growing at a rate of more than 20 per cent annually and international air traffic is growing at 17 per cent. But the lack of airport capacity is slowing air traffic growth.
India's rundown airports have long been a target of criticism by tourism officials who say the facilities give a poor first impression to visitors and compare unfavourably with airports elsewhere in the region. -AFP
