Beginning on January 23, GBIA will employ a satellite-based alternate landing system

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) will begin facilitating flights using the satellite-based landing approach on January 23 due to the lack of support from Indian authorities for the Instrument Landing System (ILS) at Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA).

According to CAAN Deputy Director General Hansa Raj Pandey, this method is known as Required Navigation Performance Authorization Required (RNP AR), which allows appropriately equipped aircraft with pilots who have received the necessary training to land at the airport under reduced visibility.

This kind of technology is employed in aviation to assist pilots in navigating precisely and safely during particular flight segments, such as while approaching or landing at airports. Operating ILS at GBIA, which is near the Indian border, requires approval from Indian officials.

He notified Republica that commercial flights can now utilize this system as of January 23 after a successful validation flight for the operation of RNP AR at the GBIA.

Pandey stated, “With assistance from international airlines, we successfully conducted a validation flight for RNP AR at the GBIA on December 8; therefore, airline operators are welcome to operate flights at GBIA using the RNP AR approach starting on January 23.” The mandatory 42-day period between the validation flight and the operation of flights ends on January 22.

In order to operate flights using the RNP AR approach at the airport, international airline operators must first obtain authorization from their respective home countries’ aviation authorities and finish training their pilots, according to Pratap Babu Tiwari, General Manager of the GBIA.

“In addition to providing the CAAN with proof of sufficient training for their pilots, airline operators would also need to obtain authorization from their home countries’ aviation authorities to employ the RNP AR approach,” Tiwari told Republica.

Due to poor visibility, flights operating at the GBIA are now having trouble landing planes at the airport between 6 p.m. and 10 a.m. After Indian officials refused to provide a suitable entry route for the system’s operation, the ILS that was placed at the airport turned out to be ineffective. Five days after his employment at the GBIA, on April 29, General Manager Tiwari wrote to the CAAN to seek the installation of the RNP AR approach at the airport since he had anticipated this possible issue.

The letter stated, “In order to solve this issue, I request expedited efforts to install RNP AR at the GBIA by the earliest possible time. Winter flights at the GBIA have to be diverted to other airports due to low visibility, discouraging international airliners to operate flights at the airport.”

Despite responding to Tiwari’s request late, CAAN had looked into other options for winter flight operations and determined that the RNP AR approach would be a good substitute. Due to the long timeframe for the method’s confirmation at the GBIA, it initially appeared doubtful that flights would be operated using the alternate approach this winter.

But thanks to quick work by the CAAN and the government, the alternative approach of operating aircraft that calls for on-board navigation performance monitoring and warning has already materialized.

International airline carriers helped CAAN with validation flights in this effort, omitting the whole stage of competition and publishing of the tender, according to CAAN authorities.

Deputy Director General Pandey informed Republica that shortly after the CAAN made the decision to install the RNP AR approach at GBIA, Qatar Airways, FlyDubai, and Thai AirAsia assisted in running the validation flight. With assistance from Qatar Airways and an Airbus subsidiary, the validation flight was conducted at Tribhuvan International Airport.

“GBIA will be able to facilitate flights using the RNP AR method for both Airbus and Boeing aircraft, in contrast to TIA where Airbus assisted with the validation flight and only validated RNP AR for Airbus aircraft.”