Last
week, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) announced
that it has now shared the significant benefits of advanced navigation system
by offering GPS-aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) to South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC)
and Southeast Asian countries.
The move
is in line with Indian Prime Minister’s objective of using technology for
development and basis for co-operation.
AAI
in conjunction with the Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO) had developed and deployed the Satellite Based
Augmentation System (SBAS) which augments Global Navigation Satellite Systems
(GNSS) signals through the use of additional satellite-broadcasting techniques.
Alongside
the US, EU and Japan, India is amongst the only 4 nations in the world to
develop and deploy this satellite navigation technology that removes the signal
errors from GNSS and provides highly precise navigation signals to the users.
Implementing
an SBAS system is a long-term investment for India, which aims to improve operational
efficiencies to the civil aviation industry and non-aviation sectors that
require precise navigation, positioning and timing signals, including smart cities,
intelligent transportation, town-planning, maritime, highways, railways,
surveying, security, and telecommunications.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued
a directive mandating GAGAN equipage on all Indian registered aircraft entering
the country on or after 1st January 2019 and is also examining the feasibility
of issuing a mandate for retrofitting of the current Indian registered
aircraft.
On
15th and 16th March, AAI conducted a 2-day workshop for
civil aviation representatives from SAARC and Southeast Asian nations to
appraise them of the performance and benefits of GAGAN and provide them with
hands-on experience of the functioning of the system.
The
workshop was inaugurated by Secretary R. N. Choubey from the Ministry of Civil
Aviation and AAI Chairman Dr Guruprasad Mohapatra delivered the keynote
address.
Chairman
of AAI Dr Guruprasad Mohapatra stated that the system had been designed with adequate
capabilities to be able to cater to the needs of the Asia Pacific region. He
hoped that the countries across the region collaborate to operationalize Asia’s
SBAS in a time bound manner.
During
the workshop, AAI, ISRO and DGCA shared their perspectives and learnings from
the development, deployment and certification of the GAGAN system.
Leading
aircraft and receiver manufacturers such as Airbus, Bombardier, BELL
helicopters, Honeywell, Rockwell Collins and Accord also provided insights on
the readiness and application of GAGAN enablement in various aircraft types.
KPMG
also presented a business case to prove that GAGAN is not only a viable
alternative to the current land-based navigational aids, but also a highly
efficient option.
The conference was followed by a visit to the
Master Control Center at Nangloi, Delhi. The representatives of neighbouring
countries were shown the infrastructure that has been built to ensure
operational integrity of the GAGAN service.
