Agartala airport to get lighting system for safe landing during inclement weather

The Agartala airport will get a powerful lighting system at the runway to enable planes to land safely during inclement weather conditions, authorities informed.

At present, the runway at the Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport has the Simple Approach Lighting System (SAPL) with an instrumental landing facility at both ends of the threshold.

It sometimes creates problems for aircraft to land, especially during inclement weather.

"In order to improve operating minima (minimum weather conditions required for a plane to safely take off or land) during low visibility, (category-1) approach lighting system for the runway was sought," Airport's Director KC Meena told PTI.

A Category-I (CAT I) approach lighting system guides aircraft during landing, especially in low visibility conditions. It consists of a row of lights along the runway centerline, extending up to 900 metres from the threshold, and includes crossbars.

"However, in view of land restriction due to the nearby Bangladesh border, an abridged category-l approach lighting system up to 720 metres will be installed instead of 900 metres," the airport director said.

The airport in the Tripura capital is located around 1.5 km from the Bangladesh border.

The move to install a new lighting system is seen as important since two flights could not touch the runway due to inclement weather in the northeastern state recently, leaving the passengers in trouble.

Handling an average of 4000 passengers daily, the MBB Airport is the second busiest airport in the region after Guwahati.