Mumbai airport gets SAGA, advanced surveillance tool for smoother operations
Mumbai airport, the country's second busiest airport, always battles with flight delays or cancellations and during monsoon, it's worse. All this will end as a surveillance software has been installed at the airport, which will not only provide real-time updates of aircraft's movements but also of the ground vehicles. The software, SAGA, was in testing phase since November 2017 and was launched last month.
Not just runways, ground vehicles too will be tracked
The Surface Awareness and Guidance at Airport or SAGA, developed by France-based ALTYS Technologies will act as 'eye' on the twin runways of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA). The control center will be manned by 35 people, who will monitor aircraft and ground vehicles, all of which will have trackers attached. The five antennas placed around the corners will capture their movements.
Thanks to SAGA, airlines' queries about aircraft have reduced 80%
Placed right at the control desk's center, the giant screen, using software, would display all movements of aircraft. An official said that airlines' queries about their respective aircraft have reduced by 80%, as they themselves can monitor the movements and plan accordingly. Since CSIA's single runway handles a stunning 960 flight movements per day, it was about time for such software.
'If airlines blame us, we'll re-run data to contest it'
The other major advantage of this software is that it can store data for more than a year. So, if the airport authorities want to understand why the aircraft did not record on-time performance, they can just re-run the data. This would also help them contest claims of airline companies without running to ATC every time, if they blame airport infrastructure for delays.
CSIA first and only airport in country to use SAGA
CSIA becomes the first airport to install such software, which will also help authorities tide over exigencies. "During monsoon last year, we were unable to see visuals clearly on screen. The software will benefit us as we can react better in emergencies," the official added.
