Kolkata airport ATC to manage 1.7 lakh sq km more airspace

KOLKATA: The city airport has started managing the Varanasi upper airspace from October 25, integrating the last sector left for the upper airspace harmonization in east and northeast that had kicked off more than six years ago in August 2015.

Of the seven continental and one oceanic airspace in the Kolkata Flight Information Region (FIR), two continental airspace — Guwahati and Varanasi — were yet to be integrated till January this year. While the Guwahati upper airspace at an altitude in excess of 25,000ft was integrated with Kolkata this January, the integration of Varanasi upper airspace has now begun.
The integration of these two regions had been delayed due to technical and administrative issues. Sources said manpower crunch at Kolkata ATC was one of the multiple reasons for the delay.
Following the integration of the sky, area controllers seated in Kolkata will manage 250-300 overflights that travel through the 1.7 lakh sq km of Varanasi’s upper airspace extending from Khajuraho to Lucknow, providing them direct routing or straight flight paths to Delhi FIR. This will not only mean less flight time, but also result in fuel saving and contribute towards making the sky a little more green. Earlier , Kolkata upper airspace jurisdiction was till Gaya, Ranchi and Patna.
With direct routing, pilots too don't need to change frequency. This means less coordination load on both pilots and controllers. It also enables controllers to enhance capacity by packing in more flights as the entire sky is under radar coverage.
Controllers said the move would also make the sky safer and eliminate the possibility of conflicting flight paths due to coordination issues. "There was a lot of coordination involved in handing over so many flights to Varanasi ATC that is one of the busiest routes in the country and also receiving as many fights from the latter,” said an ATC official.
Prior to the addition of the Varanasi upper airspace, controllers in Kolkata managed 11.9 lakh sq km of airspace.
With the increase in jurisdiction of Kolkata air traffic region (ATR), controllers here will manage traffic on 15 international routes, 37 crossings and 10 converging points, making it one of the most challenging ATRs in the country.