Bhubaneswar airport to introduce surface movement system for traffic control, safety

Bhubaneswar: The authorities of Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar have decided to install a new system to ease traffic movement and ensure better monitoring at the airport. Airport director Suresh Chandra Hota on Wednesday informed that a new project named Airport Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (ASMGCS) will be very installed at the airport which will enable the air traffic controller to monitor each and every movement on the ground on a single screen.

The system which costs an estimated Rs 25 lakh will be installed by the Netherlands-based firm and is likely to be fully operational by September this year. The ASMGCS facility is present in several important airports across the country and globally.

“In a bid to cater to the increasing traffic density at the airport, we have decided to install the system which will enable us to ensure safety and facilitate capacity enhancement,” said the airport director.

As part of other infrastructural development, the airport authorities are also constructing a 2.7 km long parallel taxi track, a fire station and a hangar for parking facilities and disaster preparedness.

“The DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has already granted us permission for a taxi track and we will see a new avatar of the Bhubaneswar airport after the project is implemented,” Hota said.