By Madhurima Ghosh –
According to a statement issued on 28th April, Indigo is the first airline in the country’s aviation history to land an aircraft using India’s indigenous navigation system GAGAN. The flight was conducted using an ATR-72 aircraft and landed using GAGAN at the Kishangarh airport in Rajasthan on April 27 morning.
Indigo said GAGAN which is GPS-aided geo-augmented navigation (GAGAN) system has been jointly developed by the Centre-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). India is the third country in the world after USA and Japan to have its own SBAS system. This a great step for Indian Civil Aviation towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat. They also proclaimed that GAGAN will modernise the airspace, reduce flight delays, save fuel and improve flight safety. The test flight was part of the approval process with Indian Aviation Regulator (DGCA).
When an aircraft is proceeding towards a runway for landing., GAGAN is used to provide the vertical and lateral guidance. At small airports where the instrument landing system (ILS) has not been installed, the precision of GAGAN is particularly useful.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a mandate for all aircraft registered in India after July 1, 2021 to be fitted with GAGAN equipment.