AAI Completes Airspace Design And Flight Procedures For Navi Mumbai And Noida Airports As Operations Near

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) announced on Friday (07 Feb) that it has successfully completed the airspace design and flight procedures for the upcoming airports in Navi Mumbai and Noida.

Scheduled to begin operations in April this year, Noida International Airport at Jewar and Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) will be new additions to India’s aviation network.

In a press release, AAI emphasized that the completion of these flight procedures highlights its expertise in managing complex airspace configurations, especially for airports situated near some of the busiest aviation hubs in the country.

As the country’s designated Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP), AAI is responsible for managing Air Navigation Services across the nation, including at the upcoming airports in Navi Mumbai and Noida.

The AAI team has carefully designed the airspace and Instrument Flight Procedures (IFPs) for these projects to ensure smooth operations. These procedures are designed to optimize flight efficiency, significantly reducing emissions, track miles, and flight times for the multitude of daily flights traversing the Delhi-Mumbai air corridors.

To achieve this, AAI collaborated with Boeing India, whose expertise in simulation and conflict analysis played a crucial role. Using Boeing's Total Airspace and Airport Modeler (TAAM) in Bengaluru, the development and validation of the flight procedures, including Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) and Standard Terminal Arrivals (STAs), were refined.

The IFPs have since undergone successful flight validation by a domestic airline operator and have been approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for implementation.

Commenting on the occasion, Vipin Kumar, Chairman of AAI, stated, "The joint efforts have facilitated the safe and efficient integration of operations at these new airports with the existing operations at Delhi IGI and Mumbai CSMIA airports. The anticipated increase in air traffic in both terminal areas will be managed in a way that conserves fuel and track miles for airlines, while also alleviating the workload for air traffic controllers and maintaining safe separation between aircraft at neighboring international airports."

He further added, "This initiative marks the initial phase of expanding operations along the Delhi-Mumbai corridor, paving the way for a modern metroplex solution in the years to come."