Cochin International Airport Ltd installs second Instrument Landing System

KOCHI: The Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) on Thursday inaugurated its second Instrument Landing System (ILS) which will enable flights to land from both sides of the runway even in rough weather conditions. With this CIAL joins the league of metro airports to have such facility in the country.

“Normally, pilot executes landing with the help of the radars. The ILS is used as a supporting mechanism to make landings more accurate. It has two main components, a localizer which helps the pilot to touch down at the central line of the runway and a glide path, which provides glide angle assistance. Because of its precision, ILS helps pilots to land as and when bad weather builds up. Previously CIAL had one ILS, which enabled precision landing from the eastern side of the runway which made the western side under-utilised during bad weather. With the inception of the secondary ILS, landings are possible from both sides in adverse conditions,” said an official of CIAL.

“It has been a long-time demand to have an all-weather landing facility from the western side of the runway as most airlines are approaching Kochi from the Middle East. The second ILS works with the assistance of latest digital technology which offers highly reliable support for the pilots, giving them more flexibility when they are into landing procedures. The facility will become fully operational once the integration with the airlines is completed,” said the official. The secondary ILS at CIAL was inaugurated by V.J. Kurian, managing director. A.C.K. Nair, airport director, A.M. Shabeer, executive director, D. Cruz, airport director, Airport Authority of India, Parthipan, deputy director, DGCA, Tony, in-charge, CNS, participated at the function.