Kolkata ATC to control additional 1.7 lakh sq km of airspace

The Kolkata airport ATC has started managing Varanasi's upper airspace, integrating the final sector of the east and northeast upper airspace harmonisation project, which began more than six years ago in August 2015.

Two continental airspaces, Guwahati and Varanasi, were yet to be integrated until January this year, out of the seven continental and one oceanic airspace in the Kolkata Flight Information Region (FIR). While the upper airspace of Guwahati was integrated with Kolkata in January at an altitude of over 25,000 ft, the upper airspace of Varanasi is now being integrated.

Due to technical and administrative issues, the integration of these two regions had been delayed. One of the multiple reasons for the delay, according to the media, is a manpower shortage at Kolkata ATC.

Following the integration of the sky, area controllers in Kolkata will oversee 250-300 overflights that pass through Varanasi's upper airspace, which stretches from Khajuraho to Lucknow and provide them with direct routing or straight flight paths to the Delhi FIR. This will result in not only a shorter flight time, but also a reduction in fuel consumption and a contribution to making the sky a little greener. Kolkata's upper airspace jurisdiction used to extend to Gaya, Ranchi, and Patna.

Pilots, too, do not need to change frequency when using direct routing. Both pilots and controllers will have less coordination work to do as a result. Because the entire sky is covered by radar, controllers can increase capacity by packing in more flights.

Controllers said that the move would also make the skies safer by removing the possibility of conflicting flight paths caused by coordination problems.

Controllers in Kolkata were responsible for 11.9 lakh sq km of airspace before the addition of the Varanasi upper airspace.

Controllers of Kolkata's air traffic region (ATR) will now be responsible for 15 international routes, 37 crossings, and 10 converging points, making it one of the most difficult ATRs in India.

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