BIAL’s insistence that the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) would be operationalised on March 30 as scheduled, would leave virtually no time for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to issue a worldwide AIRAC-NOTAM (Notice to AirMen), a standard requirement to alert pilots globally about a new permanent aeronautical facility.

No airport can be commissioned before this notice becomes part of the Jeppessen Chart, a very critical document mandatorily carried by pilots worldwide.

Landing charts
Issued once every cycle of 28 days, the AIRAC-NOTAM is the basis for the landing chart of the airport. This chart is incorporated in the Jeppessen Chart.

“To get the landing chart published, it has to be first approved by the DGCA. This will normally take a month’s time. No airport can be commissioned before the chart is published and incorporated in the Jeppessen Chart,” a top airport official explained to Deccan Herald.

But even before the NOTAM is issued, the DGCA will have to grant its license to various critical facilities at the airport.

At the Bengaluru International Airport, the flight calibration of the equipment is yet to take place. This complex calibration procedure should then be followed by the critical Instrument Landing Procedures.

Lengthy protocol
Test pilots of various airlines are then required to try out these procedures and offer their opinions to the DGCA. The DGCA will issue the AIRAC-NOTAM only if it is satisfied by the pilots’ opinions.

The landing procedures also include testing the Surveillance Radar and the Precision Radar which guides an incoming aircraft to the approach path.

A top aviation official with decades of experience in the flight safety process termed this “a very elaborate process”.

Unless the procedures were carried out precisely, no airport can be declared operational.
“This is a long drawn process, it cannot be done in a hurry,” he maintained.

For the record, a NOTAM is a notice that contains information related to the establishment, condition or change in any aeronautical facility, service, procedure or hazard, the timely knowledge of which is essential to personnel concerned with flight operations. NOTAMs are distributed by teletype or by voice advisory using radio communications.

Emergency response
While the AIRAC-NOTAM is mandatory for permanent aeronautical facilities, the DGCA also issues short period A-series NOTAMs whenever an emergency arises. For instances, if a radar stops working in an airport, this NOTAM instantly alerts pilots and other flight personnel.