Deoghar Airport Becomes the First Airport in the Country to Land Commercial Aircraft in Low Visibility

• 18 Nov 2023

Why in News?

On November 16, 2023, DGCA issued a press release stating that Deoghar Airport has become the first airport in the country to land a commercial aircraft even in a visibility of just 3200 meters. Special VFR operations are being started for commercial flights for the first time from Deoghar Airport.

Key Points

• According to DGCA, special VFR operations mark a paradigm shift in airline service, which will eliminate the problem of flight delays and cancellations due to low visibility. It will also pave the way for increasing connectivity for other such small airfields, which will also give a boost to the UDAN project.
• Now A-320 aircraft with a capacity of 180 passengers will be able to land easily at Deoghar Airport in visibility of 3200 meters. There will also be take off visibility of 3600 meters. Also, ATR-72 aircraft with a capacity of 78 passengers will be able to land in a visibility of 2800 meters and take off in a visibility of 3200 meters.
• It may be noted that the plane was not able to land at Deoghar Airport in the first five thousand visibility, due to which many flights were cancelled. Now special VFR operations are being started for commercial flights for the first time.
• Control zone and approach control unit were established at Deoghar for VFR operation. During this period, special training was given to pilots and ATC officers. After the training, the aircraft was trialled in low visibility at Deoghar Airport without passengers to establish procedures and coordination between airline operators, pilots, ATC and Air Force. After finding this trial completely satisfactory, DGCA has approved landing and takeoff special VFR at Deoghar Airport.