CAT II ILS operationalised at Amritsar airport

New Delhi, Dec 24 (PTI) In an effort to make safe and smooth aircraft operations this fog season, the Airports Authority of India has made CAT II instrument landing system operational at Amritsar's Shri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport. "The CAT II ILS, which provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, has been operationalised from 1730 hours yesterday at Shri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport at Amritsar," an AAI spokesperson said. To improve the air navigation facilities at the Amritsar airport, AAI had taken up the initiative of upgrading the existing Instrument Landing System to Category II at Amritsar for supporting safe and smooth aircraft operations, he added. For this, AAI had to improve the airport infrastructure, remove obstacles in and around the airport, training for the controllers and the maintenance personnel. With CAT II ILS becoming operational, the aircraft can now land at Amritsar airport even when the runway visibility is upto 350 metres, instead of being diverted to other airport. Also aircraft would be able to take off from Amritsar even when the visibility is as low as 400 meters. Earlier, aircraft used to land when the visibility was 650 meters. "The implementation of CAT II ILS would benefit the airlines in terms of increased safety, avoiding diversions, minimising holding for visibility improvement with consequent gains in operating costs and lesser fuel burn and substantial environmental efficiency," the spokesperson said. An ILS is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals to facilitate safe landing during instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), such as low ceilings or reduced visibility due to fog, rain, or blowing snow.