Staff Reporter / New Delhi
The Consultative Committee of the Civil Aviation Ministry today met in New Delhi and discussed GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation, GAGAN which is a Space Based Augmentation System.
The meeting which held under the chairmanship of Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia was attended by the concerned members of Parliament. GAGAN has benefits in aviation as well as in non-aviation fields. In the aviation field, GAGAN helps in designing more efficient routes which can result in fuel savings. It can also be in operations in areas with an absence of navigation infrastructure. In the nonaviation field, the GAGAN system helps in Disaster Management as early Warning messages can be broadcast on the occurrence of natural disasters, calamities, and dangers for the safety of life.
GAGAN can also enhance safety, mobility, and regulation and enable payment applications. Civil Aviation Ministry in a statement said that the Airport Authority of India, AAI designs various types of landing approach procedures for various Indian Airports. It said, so far 51 GAGAN-based approach procedures have been designed for various runways of Indian airports.
The Ministry added that AAI is making all efforts for ensuring the availability, continuity and integrity of Air Navigation services through such technological enhancement in the country. During the meeting, Members of the committee also made certain valuable suggestions on the subject.
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Meanwhile the Government has said that more than two lakh 15 thousand UDAN flights were operated and over one crore passengers have availed the benefits of UDAN flights, so far. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said this in a written reply to the questions in Lok Sabha today. He said, the Government had launched Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik, UDAN in 2016 to stimulate regional air connectivity.