We were showed in great detail how things were done here and got to listen to a few of the conversations going on, before the visit ended.
We then shifted downstairs to the radar room. We spent a good 30 minutes up there asking more questions, seeing how the equipment worked, etc. Obviously, being a Saturday, we didn't get to see any landings or take offs, but seeing the control tower for yourself was quite amazing, as was the view. The first group, including myself, went straight to the actual control tower, where we met two of the controllers. The presentation was very informative and lasted about 1 1/2 hours, we got to ask a wealth of questions, about anything to do with ATC, very interesting to get the answers to those questions you've always wondered about!Īfter the presentation, the group of 11 was split into two. It was interesting to see too, that a lot of the time, it's simply a miscommunication error which causes things to go wrong. The day started off with a presentation, including pictures and videos and even sound files of when things in ATC went wrong, these included showing how they went wrong, and why they went wrong. The event was open only to holders of private pilot licences (NPPL, PPL, BGA certificate etc and student pilots) so luckily, that includes me. 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.'Visit ATC Day' held by NATS in association with ASI took place at BFS yesterday. Prior to the addition of the Varanasi upper airspace, controllers in Kolkata managed 11.9 lakh sq km of airspace. "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. Controllers said the move would also make the sky safer and eliminate the possibility of conflicting flight paths due to coordination issues. It also enables controllers to enhance capacity by packing in more flights as the entire sky is under radar coverage.
This means less coordination load on both pilots and controllers. With direct routing, pilots too don't need to change frequency. Earlier, Kolkata upper airspace jurisdiction was till Gaya, Ranchi and Patna. This will not only mean less flight time, but also result in fuel saving and contribute towards making the sky a little more green. 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. Sources said manpower crunch at Kolkata ATC was one of the multiple reasons for the delay. The integration of these two regions had been delayed due to technical and administrative issues. 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. 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.