Gadkari for ISHAN to start at Nagpur soon 

 

STRATEGICALLY located Nagpur may soon play a dominant role in controlling the country’s entire air traffic as the concerned authorities have tentatively decided to unify four Flight Information Regions (FIRs) in India into one continuous airspace and set it up in Nagpur. The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation is in an advanced stage of implementation of project ‘ISHAN’ (Indian Single Sky Harmonised Air Traffic), an initiative of Airports Authority of India (AAI) aimed at streamlining air traffic management (ATM). Under the product, the AAI will upgrade and expand the Nagpur Air Traffic Control to enable it control movement of air traffic of the country from the centrally located destination.

 

Though the project is currently at the conceptualisation stage, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has promised Air Traffic Controllers Guild (India) that he would push for the project to bring it to Nagpur soon. Air Traffic Control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through controlled airspace. The Airports Authority of India had sought a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for studying the technology and availability in the country. Once ISHAN comes to Nagpur, the Air Traffic Management (ATM) will reduce carbon footprint, enhance safety, and aircraft fuel usage. According to one of the Air Traffic Controllers, more ATCs will be required. Of course, they all will be in Nagpur if ISHAN is finalised here.

 

The project will streamline Air Traffic Management (ATM) by consolidating India’s four Flight Information Regions (FIRs) into a single system. There are four FIRs and a sub-FIR at Guwahati. The FIRs are controlled through Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai, and sub-FIR at Guwahati. India shares its FIRs with 12 neighboring countries